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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


■^IIIM 

■  50  ^^ 


2.5 
2.2 

1.8 


1.25 


1-4    ill  1.6 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


c^ 


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C\ 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


4r 


i    MP.. 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historlques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Noteii/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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0 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  coulaur 


r~~|    Covers  damaged/ 


n 


D 


D 


Couverture  endommag^e 

Covers  restorea  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  peilicul^e 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  giogruphiques  en  couleur 


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Ce  document  est  filmii  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


y 


r^x 


16X 


20X 


26X 


30X 


a4x 


28X 


32X 


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filmage. 


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or  illustrated  impression. 


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premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
emprainte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —»•  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  chaque  microfiche,  selon  le 
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symbole  V  signifie  "FIN" 


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right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  &  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichd,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire,  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

1 


f 


Entered  i 


I. 


A 


■JAAi 


THE  IAN  OP  TWO  LIYES ! 


e/^.  ^ 


fNG  AN 


AUTHENTIC    HISTORY 


OF 


pDWARD  Howard  Rulloff 


PHILOLOGIST  AND  MURDEEER. 


SECOND    EDITION. 


■    !■>>    I 


%m  farb: 

AMERICAN  NEWS  COMPANY. 
1871. 


^ 


Entered  .ccordlnK  to  act  of  Con^refis  1„  the  year  1971  by  Edwabd  Cbaps.t.  .n 


»>lflH     .^t     /I -_       .__  .      . 

***** ••••5';r!s:,  SI  ^asriinfftOji,  I).  C. 


the  office  of  the  Llbra- 


5*1%=. 


I 


c 


W^Jdl^. 


WJ 


THE  MAF  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

BOTH    FOKBSHADOWKD 

*  • 

ma^^r/^"  ''^^*'';  "'""''  P"^'  ^  '^'  ^^'^  ^^y  °f  August,  1870,  a 

acter,  of  moat  exemplary  habits,  aud  of  vast  attainments  in  the  recondito 
sciences  resided  m  furnished  rooms  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Conrad  Jakob. 
No.  170  Third  Avenue.  New  York.     He  was  occupied  during  all  of  tUa 
period  m  writing  what  he  claimed  would  be  a  most  comprehensive  and 
exhaustive  work  upon  Method  in  the  Formation  of  Language.     But  vvhile 

To'do  ^       :i  "'  *h^^^n"'^'^^*^'^"°'  ^«  -^^-ly  ^«?t  his  home  a 
8  ocoek,  on  the  morning  of  the  day  named,  to  go  to  Binghamton  in 

ol  tl !"  fr     7m'  *?\^-S«^  by  the  neck  until  he  should  be  dead! 
on  the  od  day  of  March  then  next  ensuin^^ 

\off!^^lT'-'''''^  """^  ''''"'''''•  T'^'"'^  "^  philological  labors  had  been  nearly 
near  the  city  of  St.  John,  m  the  British  province  of  New  Brunswick     ^ 
ths  man  came  of  most  reputable  and  sterling  St         for  in  his  veins  fl'fd    i 
he  blood  winch  had  amazed  the  world  in  the  last  half  of  the  six  teen.  I  Jen     ^ 
tury  by  those  sublime  exhibitions  of  heroism  and  fortitude  whicirshlr  J 
Eulkr       empire  and  founded  the  Dutch Eepublic.    His  father,  W  1  Im 
EuUoffsoa  was  a  most  respected  and  valuable  citizen;  but  his  eldest  oiT 
l^Jward  Howard  Rulloffson,  early  exhibited  powers  which  miglUrTise  tl  ' 
family  na^e  from  provincial  good  repu.e.  into  honorable  a"d  worTw  d 
f^ne.     11.3  first  years  of  life  were  passed  at  an  old  homestead,  a   Nau 

cT  f    IW^r     ■    f ";  'r'  ''''''"^''''  ^^^  ''''^'  -  ^  -"^»-  --that 
c  ty      Hero  his  wonderful  prococity  was  first  displayed.     He  was  a  boy 

nho  not  only  devoured,  but  digested  the  contents  of  all  books  wh  ch  feU 


I 


i' 


•  THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 

in  his  way,  and  among  tliose  wero  inclu.lod  ovory  branch  of  humnn  loarn- 
ingi  flo  that  he  early  acquired  a  general  knowledge  of  science  and  litera- 
ture.  Never  being  subjecte.l  to  the  mental  discipline  only  obtamed  by 
the  ng,d  oxpon.nces  of  a  coUogo  course,  and  having  the  advantages  of 
but  httle  schooling  of  any  kind,  his  insatiate  thirst  for  learning,  his  intui- 
tive  perceptions  and  wonderful  memory  almost  made  amends  lor  his  mis- 
fortunes,  and  certainly  made  him  the  prodigy  of  his  provincial  circle. 

Be  was,  moreover,  a  handsome,  stalwart,  open-faced  boy,  of  pleasant 
manners  and  persuasive  address,  ruddy  with  health,  and  abstemious  in 
his  habits.     That  he  was  ambitious,  and  had  the  vague  general  yearning 
of  a  gifted  youth  for  some  high  station  or  calling,  where  the  great  powers 
he  instmchvo ly  know  ho  possessed  might  be  used  for  the  advancement 
of  hmjself  and  his  fellow-men,  is  undoubtedly  true.     But  the  straightened 
circumstances  of  his  father  precluded  any  attempt  to  begin  life  in  any  of 
the  hberal  professions,  and  he  consequently  commenced  his  career  ag  a 
clerk  m  the  store  of  Keator  &  Thome,  Prince  William  street,  St.  John. 
Up  to  this  timo  there  is  no  evidence  that  his  moral  character  had  been 
undermined.     He  had  no  strong  religious  convictions  of  any  kind,  but 
Jie  had  the  impressions  given  by  years  of  careful  training  by  a  most  ex- 
emplary  mother,  and  under  favorable  circumstances  these  might  have 
npened  into  convictions  that  would  have  absorbed  his  whole  being,  and 
Edward  Howard  RullofTson  in  that  event  would  have  become  a  benefactor 
and  honor  to  his  race.     But  fate  threw  him  when  he  first  emerged  from 
the  secui-ity  of  his  boyhood's  home  into  intimate  association  with  a  com- 
pany  of  scoffers  and  unbelievers.     He  naturally  imbibed  doctrines  which 
emancipated  his  mind  from  all  moral  restraints,  and  the  youth  of  eighteen 
became  the  iconoclast  of  himself  from  mere  pride  in  his  mental  endow- 
ments.    He  had  no  ialierent  vices,  but  he  had  strong  passions,  and  that 
secretive  nature,  wliich  made  him  susceptible  of  absorbing  whatever 
lie  came  in  contact  with  large  enough  to  tit  snugly  among  his  idiosyn- 
cracies.     For  this  was  to  be  a  man  ot  marvellous  character  who  would 
6liun  the  potty  peccadilloes  to  which  ordinary  humanity  succumbs,  and 
be  great  in  his  vices  as  he  would  have  been  in  his  virtues  had  Jiis  mind 
happened  at  the  outset  to  have  been  warped  in  the  other  direction. 

A  fatality  that  was  to  attend  him  throughout  his  life  became  manifc-t 
at  Its  opening.  He  was  to  bring,  or  cause  misfortune  evervwhero 
He  had  been  but  a  few  months  with  Keator  &  Thorne,  when  their  e^tab- 
lishmont  was  burned  to  the  ground.  He  removed  with  them  to  a  diffi-r.uit 
part  of  the  city,  but  the  firo  shortly  followed,  and  the  store  was  .-ignin  - 
Bwept  from  the  earth.  With  this  conflagration  his  mercantile  career 
ended,  and  he  became  a  clerk  and  writer  in  the  law  office  of  Duncan 
Eobertson,  a  noted  barrister  of  St.  John.     Hero  his  sponge-hke  mind 


TJnn  lonm- 
and  litora- 
jtamed  by 
intages  of 
,  his  intui- 
r  his  mis- 
circlo. 
'  pleasant 
amious  in 
yearning 
at  powers 
anooment 
lightened 
in  any  of 
rear  as  a 
St.  John, 
had  been 
kind,  but 
most  es- 
jht  have 
ling,  and 
mofactor 
fed  from 
\x  a  com- 
38  wliich 
eighteen 
.  endow- 
md  that 
i'hatever 
idiosyn- 
3  would 
lbs,  and 
18  mind 
I. 

rxfinifest 
i'whero, 
f  e,-tab- 
iffonnit 
3  iigain 
career 
Duncan 
e  mind 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  f 

absorbed  thoso  rudimentary  principles  of  the  common  law,  and  the  fun- 
damental rules  of  practice,  which  were  to  stand  him  in  good  stead  in  aJtei 
years,  when  ho  was  to  be  his  own  client  in  a  long  and  bitter  struggle  with 
a  law  he  had  violated  and  a  people  he  had  outraged.     lie  was  soon  at 
the  verge  of  urgent  personal  need  for  such  knowledge,  for  not  long  after 
he  entered  the  law  office,  robberies  of  the  stores  of  the  town  became  of 
frequent  occurrence.     His  old  employer,  Mr.  Thorne,  had  re-established 
himself  in  business  in  the  same  building  in  which  the  law  office  was  located, 
and  his  store  being  robbed  of  some  valuable  goods,  he  instituted  private 
inquiries  which  soon  satisfied  him  that  liulloffson  was  the  thief.     The 
proof  against  him  became  positive  when  he  defied  probabilities,  as  it  was 
to  bo  hk  constant  habit  through  his  life,  by  appearing  in  a  suit  of  clothes 
made  fr.nn  the  stolen  goods.     Mr.  Thome  had  a  lingering  regard  for  the 
lad  wliom  he  thought  had  been  led  astray  for  the  moment,  and  with  this 
evidence  before  him,  told  EuUoffson  that  ho  would  forgive  him  if  he  made 
an  oi>en  confession  of  the  whole  matter.     But  the  youth  instantly  mani- 
festod  another  of  his  peculiarities,  which  was  to  go  with  him  to  the  g.d- 
lows,  by  insulting  his  intending  benefactor,  and  telling  him  that  he  could 
do  as  he  pleased  in  the  matter.     Mr.  Thorne  was  convinced  that  mercy 
would  be  misplaced,  and  as  a  consequence  Rulloffson  was  arrested,  tried 
found  guilty,  and  in  the  fall  of  1839,  for  the  first  time  was  a  convicted 
telon  and  in  the  Penitentiary  of  St.  John,  where  he  served  a  term  of  two 
years.     When  his  time  had  expired,  he  disappeared  from  8t.  John,  and 
became  as  utterly  lost  to  his  relatives  and  to  all  who  had  known  him  up 
to  the  tune  of  his  conviction,  as  though  the  grave  had  closed  over  him 
With  the  shadow  of  voluntary  crime  upon  him,  he  went  away  to  burrow 
through  tortuous  ways  to  a  resurrection  of  infamy. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HERE  IB  THE  KOURCB  OP  ALL  TEEIU  GRIEFS. 

foo^sl'  ""'"'^  1-^T  ^^'^'  "  '*™""^'*'  y^^"^'  '«^'^«*'  Vonnlle,,,  and 
the  "C:  ?T  v"  f""  *r^  "^  ^^^^^^^'  ^^  *^«  county  of  Tompki;s,  in 
the  State  of  New  York  Then,  as  now,  that  prosperous  region  was  n- 
habited  by  a  sturdy,  God-fearing  race  of  primitive  virtue,  and  the  stran^r 
was  never  turned  whether  in  distress  or  prosperity,  from  their  doors.  °It 
was  not  strange  that  this  uafortunate  met  succor  and  sympathy,  nor  that 
their  reverence  for  labor  as  the  highest  estate  of  ma^  should  havl 


c 


t  THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LTVEa 

compelled  him  to  take  the  firHt  employiiiHnt  that  off  rtjil.  by  whirh  nuHinii 
it  hai>pened  thut  ho  l<r»t  bocame  a  canal  laborer,     liut  ho  soon  cmorgcMl 
by  the  foroe  of  his  own  adilro.ss  from  thi»  niotiial  and  lunjonj^oniiil  spliHre. 
lie  told  a  story  that  was  tho  oxaot  truth  so  far  as  it  w«>nt,  and  rtlthou^jli 
it  was  not  deemed  entirely  satisfactory  whon  a  crisis  came  at  a  later  day, 
it  gained  him  friends.     IIo  said  that  his  name  was  JMwaixl  fl.  lIullotFi.. 
that  Jo  was  a  native  of  St.  John,  Now  lirunswick,  where  he  had  boeu  a 
clerk  of  a  hardware  etoro,  but  had  loft  his  native  town  in  search  of  bettor 
opportunities  of  success  in  tho  States.     In  the  city  of  Now  York,  ns  ho 
said,  he  had  made  the  ac(iuaintanco  of  the  teucihor  of  a  Comniorcial  School, 
by  whom  he  had  boon  promised  employment;  but  while  waiting  in  vain 
ior  this,  his   means  had  been  exhausted,  and  he  had  then   como   out 
info  the  country,  where  he  thought  ho  might  have  a  bettor  ( 'uvnco.     Tie 
also  claimed,  and  to  the  ruHtio  people  Mhose  on'y  temples  of  learning 
were  the  log  houses  at  tho  oroas-roads,  gave  overwhelming  proof  of  the 
possession  of  the  most  profound  and  varied  scholastic  acquirements.     He 
seemed  to  thero  something  liiglior  and  be.tor  than  themselves,  and  very 
soon  became  a  drug  clerk  in  Itluu^a,  instead  of  a  canal  laborer  in  the 
country.     In  this  now  sphere  he  displayed  the  same  zeal  and  aptitude 
that  had  distinguished  him  in  both  of  his  employments  in  St.  John— for 
this  man  was  none  other  than  Edward  Howard  RuUoffson— and  rapi^lly 
acquired  a  more  complete  knowledge  of  drugs  than  any  one  in  the  estab- 
lishment.    But  his  restlessness  was  soon  upon  him  again,  and  quitting 
the  drug  business,  he  was  then  hoard  of  as  the  toachor  of  a  Select  School 
at  Dryden,  where  ho  had  a  largo  iiumbor  of  scholars  of  both  soxes. 
Among  them  was  a  tender,  pleasant  girl  of  sixteen,  named  Ilarriot  Schutt, 
through  whom,   although  she  was   of  most  exemplary  cliaractor  and 
pleasant  temper,  ho  was  to  become  the  execration  of  four  of  tho  most 
populous  and  virtuous  counties  in  tho  State  of  Now  York,  as  she  was  to 
be  the  victim  of  a  murder  more  cruel  and  unnatural  than  any  which  had 
yet  stained  the  annals  of  the  State.     But  during  the  last  months  of  1S42, 
and  all  of  the  succeeding  year,  this  interesting  girl,  standing  on  tho  thres- 
hold of  a  promising  womanhood,  saw  no  evil  in  tho  mail  she  loved,  and 
who,  it  was  soon  seen,  returned  or  pretended  to  return  tho  feeling.     Al- 
most from  tho  beginning  of  the  school  his  attentions  to  Miss  Schutt  were 
those  of  a  lover,  and  were  accepted  by  her  as  such.     In  age,  the  parties 
were  not  unequally  matched,  and  in  mental  acquirements  as  well  as 
worldly  prospects,  he  seemed  far  her  superior.     Even  then  he  had  a  smat- 
tering, which  passed  in  tho  rural  hamlet  for  profundity  of  all  sciences, 
even  to  that  of  phrenology,  unon  which  he  had  delivered  lectures.     He 
was  a  bot-anical  physician,  a  druggist,  an  excellent  penman,  a  classical 
Bcholar,  a  mechanist  of  rare  original  pov/er,  a  lawyer,  and  an  earnest, 


1 

■£ 

I 


ioh  iiiorina 

111  H])ll«U-C. 

nititougli 
liitfir  day, 
I.  Uullotr,,.- 
k(I  boon  u 
I  of  bettor 
>rlc,  ns  he 
111  School, 
ig  in  vain 
jomo  out 
iico.     lie 

loarning 
[)f  of  the 
nts.  lie 
and  vory 
or  in  the 

aptitude 
ohn — for 
i  rapiilly 
ho  estab- 

qnitting 
at  School 
h  Boxes. 
it  Schutt, 
ctor  and 
tlio  most 
0  was  to 
liich  liad 
of  1842, 
10  thres- 
ved,  and 
Iff-  Al- 
utt  were 
9  parties 

well  as 
'.  a  smat- 
jciences, 
OS.  lie 
classical 
earnest, 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  g 

flunnt  iipflaVer.  Thore  was  apparently  nothing  ho  could  not  do,  or  attemnt. 
an.l  bo.ng  nu.roover  possossod  of  good  address  and  polished  manner.,  to 
the^  unlettered  rustics  he  seemed  a  marvel,  armed  to  dare  and  do  every. 

^  Yot  the  Schutt  family  instinctively  shuddered  as  they  saw  this  parniron 
msuhously  creeping  mto  their  domestic  circle  through  the  affections  of 
the  «.stor.  She  w.is  at  first  remonstrated  with,  but  to  no  purpose,  us  she 
remamod  firm  to  her  faith  in  the  man,  who  was  to  li-r  thi  pirfoJtion  of 
all  m.n.  Next  Rul  off  himself  was  approached,  and  Mr  Epiraim  Schu^ 
ft  brother  of  Harriet,  demanded  references  as  to  character  from  his  former 

^Z'r.rT^'T  ""r,*"^'"  ^^  '^'  ^^"^^  *"  '^^  ^°»"^*'  "^-l  contemptu- 

n  ivV         I'  T     k"'   i"'  "'""^'"^  ^"^  ^^"«^*1  '«P"^  i"  the  commu. 
nity,  where  he  had  been  for  a  year,  ought  to  be  enough  for  the  family  he 

proposed  to  lionor  with  his  alliance.     At  last,  seeing  that  HaS  was 

dotornuned,  and  hoping  their  fears  might  be  unfounded,  the  opp^s^^  on  Jo 

81s    day  of  December,  18-13,  when  the  bride  was  seventoen    and  the 
brulogroom  twenty-five.  '  *^® 

J^o2Z\T  ^T  ''''  '''''^^'^  ''''^'  ^^^"^^  *^«  ^"«-^t«  associations 
engendered  by  such  an  event,  proved  to  the  family  how  wise  had  been 

their  distrust  of  the  man  who  had  crept  into  their  drcle.  Try  soon'S 

but  the  devoted  infatuated,  suffering  wife  saw  that  the  husb  ndTas  " 

TLensX    l^l'rrr.^  "^^;^"^?  *'^*  ^PP^-'-'^^^  fiondlshnerin 
bitterlrh^'  ,  .  *^'  ""'^^  ^"^  "^  ^'1  ^«'  ^«i'^ti-e8  was  soon  em- 

old  «nlZ?  V''''  ^  ^'-  ^^'  H-  I^"".  a  respectable  practitioner  of  the 
"a  l^pLTeVoTV'  ^  ^^""^^^  ^'^^"^^«'  '^'-  ^^^  ^-n  fo 

tween  his  wrea7rBu  ,    ^^    *,'' T'T  °"^  '"*  '■"""'""'^  >"■ 

woman  who  h^L  her  ZeTt"^^  T^  ^'^  *'^  ^«^^'  ^^^--^- 

actual  outrage     One  nthtsho  r^"^'  "^"^  ^'  ^^^'^  ^"^™^-^-l  ^^ 

irage.    Uae  night  she  was  pounding  peppor  in  a  large  iron  mor- 


10 


TIIE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


\t^ 


tar,  and  he  not  liking  the  manner  in  which  she  performed  that  menial 
household  duty,  suddenly  snatching  the  pestle  from  her,  with  a  brutal 
remark,  struck  her  a  blow  with  the  heavy  iron  which  felled  her  to  the 
floor.     When  she  recovered  consciousness  she  had  no  word  of  reproof 
for  the  coward  who  had  wantonly  stricken  down  the  woman  he  had  sworn 
to  cherish  and  protect,  and  her  patient  endurance  seems  to  have  softened 
the  brute  into  something  Uke  contiition,  for  he  was  gracious  enough  to 
.'say  that  he  did  not  intend  to  strike  her  so  hard.     But  he  was  no  kinder 
to  her  after  this  outrage  than  before,  while  the  remonstrance  which  it 
naturally  evoked  from  her  relatives  made  him  more  rancoious  toward 
them,  although  in  a  It^xge  degree  dependent  on  them  for  support.    For 
with  all  his  accomplishments,  he  seemed  incapable  of  making  a  practical 
use  of  them  by  earning  a  subsistence ;  he  roughly  declared  that  ho  would 
Buflfer  no  interference  by  any  of  them  between  him  and  his  wife.     At  last 
«11  parties  became  heartily  tired  of  this  bickering  life,  and  there  was 
general  rejoicing,  when,  having  amassed  a  few  dollars,  by  means  nobody 
knew  of,  he  announced  his  intention  of  taking  his  wife  :o  Jive  at  Lansing, 
a  hamlet  five  miles  from  Ithaca,  and  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Cayurra.  Lake! 
The  wife  hoped  for  peace  by  separation  from  the  disturbing  caujo  of  her 
I'fe,  and  her  relatives  were  certain  that  while  matters  could  be  no  worse 
than  they  had  been,  there  was  a  chance  for  improvement.     What  Eulloff 
thought,  or  whether  he  had  any  foul  design  about  that  time  it  is  impossible 
to  say ;  but  it  is  certain  that  the  removal  to  Lansing  was  the  first  act  ia 
a  most  ehocking  tragedy. 


1 


1 1     ');. 


CHAPTEE  IIL 

MOST  FOUL,  STRANGE,  AND  UNNATURAI,. 

For  a  time  the  hopes  of  the  imperilled  household  seemed  to  be  well 
based.    Eulloff  did  seem  to  be  doing  better.    He  was  more  considerate 
to  his  wife,  and  when,  in  April,  a  daughter  was  born  to  him  he  became 
almost  kind.    He  lived  alone  with  his  wife  and  c>  did,  and  she  made  no 
complaints  of  i'i-usage,  nor  did  the  neighbors  observe  anj'.     His  home 
was  comfortably  provided  with  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  he  appeared 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life  to  be  getting  forehanded  with  the  world. 
He  had  by  this  time  acquired  quite  a  library  of  books,  wliicli  in  that 
pl8,ce,  at  that  time,  seemed  the  embodiment  of  all  human  wisdom,  and 
he  had  gained  the  confidence  of  a  large  portion  of  the  community  as  a 
skilled  botanical  physician,  and  a  man  of  temperate  and  industrious 
habits. 


hat  menial 
h  a  brutal 
her  to  the 
of  reproof 
had  8  worn 
fe  softened 
enough  to 
no  kinder 
le  which  it 
•us  toward 
port.    For 
a  practical 
;  ho  would 
3.     At  last 
there  was 
ns  nobody 
t  Lansing, 
uga  Lake. 
use  of  her 
no  worse 
at  Rulloff 
inpossible 
irst  act  in 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


U 


0  be  well 

asiderate 

1  became 
made  no 
lis  home 
ippeared 
e  world. 

in  that 
lom,  and 
aity  as  a 
ustrious 


Among  those  who  thus  regarded  him  was  Mr.  W.  H.  Schutt,  who  re- 
sided in  Ithaca,  and  whose  child  being  taken  sick  on  the  2d  day  of  June 
1845,  called  Eulloff  professionally.     It  was  a  simple  ailment  of  infancy' 
but  without  exciting  the  least  suspicion  of  the  learned  doctor,  became  rap-' 
idly  worse,  and  the  next  day  the  babe  died  in  convulsions.    Nor  was  con- 
fidence  in  him  shaken  when  the  mother  of  the  child,  who  had  seemingly 
been  perfectly  well  when  Eulloff  was  called  to  attend  it,  suddenly  sick- 
ened  and  died  in  the  same  way  two  days  afterwards.    Thirteen  years 
afterwards  her  body  was  exhumed,  and  the  tissues  of  the  stomach  being 
sent  to  Professor  Doremus,  oi  New  York,  that  eminent  analytical  chemist 
found  in  them  distinct  traces  of  copper  poison.    But  the  simple  and  unsus- 
pecting  country-folk  who  had  never  been  brought  in  contact  with  flagrant 
cnme,  thought  no  ill  of  the  physician  who  had  attended  the  deceased,  and 
the  deaths  which  w^re  attributed,  as  so  many  foul  murders  before  them 
had  been,  to  "the  inscrutable  ways  of  a  Divine  Providence,"  did  not  even 
shake  the  confidence  of  Mr.  Schutt,  or  of  the  grieved  public  in  the  skHl  of 
Rulloff  in  his  pretended  character  of  a  medical  practitioner.    He  attended 
the  funerals  of  mother  and  child  without  outward  manifestation  of  any 
consciousness  of  agency  in  their  untimely  end,  and  returned  with  his  wife 
to  the  lonely  house  at  Lansing. 

^    There  is  a  gap  in  this  man's  life  during  the  next  two  weeks.  It  is  known, 
mdeed,  that  he  was  at  home  and  pretendinj?  to  be  engaged  in  those  ab- 
struse studies  which  he  claimed  were  beyond  the  comprehension  of  his 
neighbors,  but  he  gave  no  revelations  of  his  inner  self  during  that  time 
which  have  ever  been  recorded.     The  young  wife  and  mother  alone  knew 
the  secrets  if  there  were  any,  of  that  horrible  house;  but  she  seldom 
was  seen  during  this  time  beyond  it,  and  when  she  was,  neither  her 
tongue  or  her  demeanor  betrayed  any  of  them.     She  appeared  contented, 
a  most  happy,  for  the  first  time,  with  the  man  in  whose  hands  she  had 
placed  her  hfe,  and  from  the  casual  glances  obtained  of  her  bv  the 
neighbors,  seemed  to  be  contentedly  engaged  in  her  humble  household 
duties. 

On  the  evening  of  the  23d  of  June,  there  were  some  Indian  squaws 
moving  from  house  to  house  in  the  little  hamlet  of  Lansing,  and  Rulloff 
astonished  his  neighbor  Robertson,  who  lived  almost  immediately  oppo- 
site,  by  askmg  that  his  daughter  might  go  over  and  stay  with  Mrs.  Rul- 
loll,  as  he  was  obHged  to  be  out  for  a  time,  and  he  was  afraid  that  if  the 
Indians  came  during  his  absence  she  might  be  frightened.  This  remark- 
able consideration  for  the  woman  ho  had  eo  often  wantonly  outraged,  did 
not;  seem  singular  to  his  neighbors,  for  at  that  time  the  details  of  his 
domestic  life  were  little  known,  and  Miss  Robertson  accordingly  went 
over  to  the  Eulloff  house,  wnere  she  found  the  wife  sitting  in  a  low  rock- 


12 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


!     ' 


t 


Ing-chair  and  fondly  holding  her  cooing  babe.    Few  details  of  that  last 
evening  in  the  life  of  the  unfortunate  woman  have  been  preserved,  al- 
though the  visitor  was  a  chief  witness  in  the  exciting  judicial  investiga- 
tions vhich  followed  soon  afterwards,  and  again  alter  the  lapse  of  eleven 
years.    But  she  was  young,  and  having  no  suspicion  of  the  dramatic  posi- 
tion in  which  she  was  placed,  took  no  note  of  trivial  details  which  might 
have  shed  the  light  of  truth  upon  the  horrors  of  that  night.     All  that  she 
could  remember,  was,  that  while  it  was  yet  early  in  the  evening,  Rulloff 
returned  bringing  the  squaws  with   him,  and  took  pains  to  explain  ail 
about  tJiem  to  his  wife  and  her  visitor.     His  conduct  in  this  respect  was 
strange ;  but  stranger  yet,  when,  after  the  Indians  had  left,  he  mixed 
some  medicine  in  his  mortar  and  proposed  to  give  it  to  his  child.     The 
wife  objected  with  terrified  eagerness,  saying  the  balw  was  in  perfect 
health ;  but  the  learned  and  anxious  father  had  detected  the  seeds  of 
disease  in  liis  offspring,  and  insisted  the  dose  should  be  given.     For  once 
the  wife  was  resolute,  and  the  husband  declaring  that  siie  needed  the 
medicine  as  much  as  the  baby,  she  said  she  might  take  it,  but  tlie  child 
should  not.    At  last,  however,  EuUoff  desisted,  said  he  had  only  been 
joking,  and  with  this  pleasant  ending  of  what  seemed  for  a  moment  an 
unpleasant  incident  of  her  visit,  Miss  Robertson  at  9  o'clock  bid  her  hosts 
good  night,  and  left  the  house.     Froiu  that  hour  to  tiiis,  Harriet  Ruiloli 
and  her  infant  child  have  never  been  seen  on  earth. 

The  next  morning,  which  was  the  24th  day  of  June,  1845,  it  was  no- 
ticed that  the  blinds  of  RuUoffs  house  remained  closed,  and  no  one  waa 
seen  about  the  place.  But  the  curiosity  natm-ally  excited  by  this  circum- 
stance in  the  village,  was  entirely  satisfied  when  RuUolI  cume  out  of  thd 
house  about  nine  o'clock,  and  going  over  to  Robertson's,  asked  for  the 
loan  of  a  horse  and  wagon,  saying,  that  an  uncle  having  called  during 
the  night,  Mrs.  RulIofF  and  child  had  gone  with  him  to  Mott's  Corners, 
a  place  between  the  lakes,  and  that  to  make  room  lor  them  in  his  small 
wagon,  the  uncle  had  been  obliged  to  leave  behind  a  large  chest,  which 
RullofF  desired  to  take  \,^j  liim.  Robertson  had  the  most  implicit  faith  in 
his  neighbor,  and  being  always  glad  to  do  him  a  favor,  the  horse  and 
wagon  was  at  once  furnished.  Rulloff  drove  over,  and  backing  the  wagon 
up  to  his  door  went  into  the  house.  Presently  Mr.  Robertson,  who  had 
remained  at  his  house,  saw  his  neighbor  drag  the  chest  from  the  house, 
and  noticing  that  it  was  too  heavy  for  him  to  iiit  into  the  wagon,  went 
over  and  assisted.  He  found  his  end  of  the  chest  quite  heavy,  but  the 
united  strength  of  the  two  men  easily  placed  it  in  the  wagon,  and  Rulloff 
getting  in,  drove  away. 

Circumstances  which  cannot  lie  have  testified  with  increasing  direct- 
ness and  emphasis  for  twenty-six  years  that  the  chest  contained  the  bodies 


i 


■I 


»f  thai  last 
served,  al- 

iuvestiga- 
•  of  eleven 
natic  posi- 
lich  might 
U  that  she 
ig,  Rulloff 
»xpiain  all 
Dapect  was 

he  mixed 
did.  The 
iu  perfect 

seeds  of 

For  once 
eeded  the 

tlie  child 
only  been 
jment  an 
her  hosts 
et  liuiloii 

t  ■was  no- 
I  one  waa 
i  circum- 
ut  of  the 
i  for  the 
d  during 
Corners, 
lis  small 
it,  which 
;  faith  in 
orso  and  t 
le  wagon 
who  had 
e  house, 
on,  went 
,  but  the 
I  EuUoff 


P.  W.  HOPKINS,  ESQ., 

DISTRICT  ATTORNEY   OF  BROOME   COUNTY. 


f  direot- 
e  bodies 


;i|i 


m 


'■) 


m 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES.  13 

cf  his  wife  and  child,  who  were  both  in  perfect  health  at  9  o'clock  on  the 
previous  evening,  and  had,  in  the  interim,  been  foully  done  to  death  by 
the  husband  and  fatlier,  in  some  way  which  human  ingenuity  has  never 
been  able  to  discover.     Yet  RuUoff  betrayed  no  emotion  of  any  kind 
unless  It  might  be  a  cheerfulness  somewhat  unusual  with  him  for  it  wail 
long  the  marvel  of  the  country  in  whioli  the  beautifully  burnished  lakes 
of  Western  New  York  are  nestled,  that  he  drove  that  morning  along  the 
road  at  a  jog  trot,  as  though  his  errand  was  one  in  no  haste  for  comple- 
tion    More  than  that,  almost  two  generations  of  the  honeet  folk  inhabit- 
ing that  region  have  shuddered  at  the  fact  that  this  n.an,  thus  carting  a 
n^urdered  w.  e  and  child  to  unchristian  burial,  presently  overtaking  a 
group  of  dnldren,  invited  them  to  ride,  and  they,  accepting  the  invitation, 
the  road  for  two  miles  was  made  merry  by  the  innocent  laughter  of  the 
chidren,  which  was  provoked  by  the  funny  songs  and  quaint  whistling 
of  the  driver.     He  dropped  the  children  at  last,  and  the  wagon  went  on 
in  more  demure  fashion,  but  the  face  of  the  driver  was  that  of  a  man  at 
Veace  with  his  own  conscience. 

At  intervals,  during  that  long  summer  day,  glimpses  of  that  ghastly 
wagon  were  caught  at  various  places,  but  its  frightful  burden  was  unsus! 
pec  ted,  d  It  IS  not  strange  that  trace  of  it  was  lost  for  hourlt^gethe  . 
But  by  a  fortunate  chance  it  happened  that  these  glimpses  showed  that  it 

tmi  1       fT     ?r"''  ^"u  ''^  *^^  ^^"^'^^y-  ^«-*  ^y  -  'i-ious  road 
^Ithaca,  and  from  thence  to  the  inlet  of  Cayuga  lake,  where  it  arriv^ 
when  the  sun  was  yet  hours  above  the  horizon.    There  it  remained  In 
parently  abandoned  until  dusk,  for  Eulloff  was  not  seen  or  noled  by' 
any  one  during  the  time.     Murderer  never  before  so  laid  himself  open  in 
every  way  to  the  chances  of  detection ;  but  this  man  seems  to  have  feld 
dnd  safely,  upon  the  unsuspecting  character  of  the  people  about  hir^.  TW 
had  never  been  brought  face  to  face  with  a  diabolical  crime ;  audi  is  no^ 

Ijal  wa.eve.  obtained  to  .how  how  tlm  man,  in  tho  ili  and  m  ddCw 

.way  ovc.  the  .i.ent,  shudderb,  wat;.,  /iu     f  htTaoledlrZ^ 
h.8  pievous  mquiries  had  told  him  was  most  suitable  ITh  ^ 

and  there  shot  them  down  into  „l,„„.t  !„T1. .    .,_ 'Z"' ■•'!  V^^f^, 
forever  eoncealed  from  the  eyes  of  men  """''"""'"■''''  ''"'»"".  ^  «™m 

fenid  En  Mstidlath'r '"■'"°''ff '•'''*  *°  "'' '-^- -''° -'''- 
urn  on  ms  trial,  tliat  he  so  wrapped  the  bodies  of  his  yictims  with 


14 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 


1  111 


untempeT«d  wire,  that  they  could  never  become  unfastened,  and  attach- 
ing a  heavy  iron  mortar  to  that  of  his  wife,  and  a  fiat  iron  to  that  of  tha 
child,  threw  them  overboard  in  a  deep  spot  of  the  lake,  wliicli  ho  paiticu- 
larly  described.     But  there  are  many  who  believe  that  this  story  was  en- 
tirely false,  and  who  think  tlie  bodies  were  sold  to  the  Gonova  Medical 
College,  and  there  dissected.     This  opinion  is  based  on  the  fact  that 
about  the  time  of  the  disappearance  of  Mrs.  RuUolT  and  her  child,  two 
bodies,  answering  in  general  description  those  of  the  victims,  were  taken 
there.     One  was  that  of  a  child  of  the  proper  age  and  sex,  while  the 
other  was  that  of  a  woman,  of  whom  it  was  specially  remembered  that 
she  had  the  very  long  and  beautiful  black  hair,  for  which  Mrs.  Eulloff 
was  remarkable.     These   bodies  were   received  through  the   ordinary 
channels  by  which  subjects  came,  and  having  no  marks  of  violence,  or 
signs  of  unnatural  death,  they  excited  no  suspicion  of  foul  play.     The 
hypothesis  seems  too  horrible  for  belief,  but  Edward  H.  Eulloff  is  held  in 
such  poor  esteem  in  Tompkins  county,  that  largo  numbers  of  the  people 
believe,  that  having  deftly  done  murder,  he  turned  his  crime  to  pecuniary 
account,  by  selling  the  bodies  of  his  victims. 

None  but  Eulloff  knows  the  secrets  of  that  night,  but  all  tho  country 
side  soon  knew  that  about  ten  o'clock  on  the  25th  day  of  June  he  stop- 
ped before  his  own  door  in  Lanaing  with  the  same  horse,  wagon,  and 
chest.     There  was  the  same  deliberation  in  all  his  movements  that  was 
so  apparent  on  the  previous  day,  for  he  was  seen  to  come  slowly  up,  and, 
although  the  day  was  extremely  hot,  the  horse  was  dry  and  sleek,  thus 
showing  he  had  not  been  driven  fast  enough  to  start  the  perspiration. 
When  he  stopped,  a  son  of  Mr.  Eobertson  went  over  to  take  the  horse, 
and  Eulloff,  just  then  taking  the  chest  from  the  wagon,  tho  boy  ran  up 
just  in  time  to  see  that  Eulloff  easily  lilted  it.     He  saw  that  it  was  the 
sarae  chest,  and  he  knew  from  the  weight  that  it  was  empty.     For  the 
third  time  this  man  of  universal  learning  and  genius,  who  passed  into  his 
house  easily  carrying  a  chest  that  the  united  strength  of  two  men  was 
required  to  lift  on  the  previous  day,  had  proved  himself  a  bungling  mur- 
derer. 

The  boy  took  home  the  horse,  the  shutters  of  the  Eulloff  house  re- 
mained closed,  and  life  in  the  hamlet  drowsed  sleepily  in  the  fervid  mid- 
dle of  a  mid -summer  day.  The  afternoon  was  nearly  gone  when  Eulloff 
again  emerged  from  his  house,  and  this  time  with  a  large  bundle,  made 
up  in  a  shawl  well  known  to  belong  to  his  wife,  thrown  over  his  shoul- 
der. He  took  good  care  to  pass  close  to  Mr.  Eobertson  who  was  at  work 
in  his  g.irden.  He  even  stopped  and  cheerily  called  out,  "  Good-bye, 
Eobertson ;  don't  be  alarmed  if  we  don't  come  back  in  two  or  three  weeks. 
I  and  my  wife  talk  of  going  on  a  visit  between  the  lakes !"  by  which  he 


nng 

that 

siste 

it  ba 

betw 

came 

that 

enigi 

durii) 

whicl 

of  hia 

direct 

he  wj 

Gene^ 

his  pu 

althoii 

trace  < 

All 

flight, 

some  1 

arrivii: 

Eoberl 

home  i 


,  and  attach- 
)  that  of  tha 
I  ho  paiticu- 
tory  was  en- 
lovti  Medical 
10  fact  that 
r  child,  two 
,  were  taken 
X,  while  the 
mbered  that 
Mrs.  Eulloff 
le   ordinary 
violence,  or 
play.     The 
iff  is  held  in 
'  the  people 
0  pecuniary 

the  country 
ne  he  stop- 
wagon,  and 
its  that  was 
k^Iy  up,  and, 

sleek,  thus 
erspiration. 

the  horse, 
3oy  ran  up 

it  was  the 
.  For  the 
sed  into  his 
o  men  was 
gling  mur- 

'  house  re- 
i'ervid  mid- 
.en  Eulloflf 
idle,  umde 
his  shoul- 
as  at  work 
(jOOu-uy©, 
ree  weeks. 
r  which  he 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  15 

was  supposed  to  mean  Cayuga  and  Seneca  lakes.  Then  he  added  with 
a  pleasant  laugh-so  far  as  he  ever  succeeded  in  all  his  life  in  making 
his  laugh  pleasant-"  Please  don't  let  any  one  carry  away  our  house 
while  we  are  goiie."  This  joke  having  left  his  lips,  he  ^xudgod  away! 
whistling  as  ho  went,  for  want  of  thought."  .-^1"J'» 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"  CONFIRMATIONS  8TE0NQ  AS  PE00F8  OF  HOLY  WEIT.» 

No  man  ever  counted  more  largely  on  the  faith  of  his  fellow-men  in 
his  character  than  did  this  assassin,  trudging  that  hot  afternoon  inToBhac^ 
which  he  reached  at  nightfall.  He  went  direct  to  the  house  of  W  H 
Schutt.  where  he  took  tea.  His  face  was  flushed,  and  complHJ'  Tf  S 
burning,  he  asked  if  it  did  not  look  red,  and  then  accounted S'rfppe^ 
anee,  by  saying  he  had  walked  in  the  hot  sun.  After  supper  heTk^ 
nng  from  his  pocket,  and  asking  Mr.  Schutt  if  he  recogiiked  it  destd 

came  back  about  9  o'clock  for  a  rockine-  rhmr  K,  ^l-     Tf  "      ^® 

o(  hi,  wife  andVhid^^SdWhtTbS''.*  '■-booh  and  the  clothing 

direct  to  the  stage  wCe  he  commild  h7  .  '"  v  '"  ^"""''  "''  ^™™ 
he  was  well  inown  te  ZTT         """  "''^'^''y.  although  he  knew 

Geneva,  as  JohnXe  BTtUr"'  """"^  "'  '"'"'''"S  ''™'"''  '" 
his  purpose,  aa  he  ^tef^ith  hat  Z." ^Ilt  ^  'Tt  *"  """"^ 
although  followed  in  his  devious  ^„f„!!'  1  %  ^^^  ^'"  °°'"""''  ""^ 
trace  of  him  was  there  lost  rtlTme  °°"""'  ^"^'^  "'"''■  "^ 

BOn«  articles  of  househTd  T' ,V^         ^""""^  '°  ^"^^"'^^  l""-™  "i* 
Eobe;ts™  orth;Tsence''of  r?  'Tl"  °'°"''  "'^  ™  ""^o"^ 

.o.eana«t^rfi':rt^:rc-~^^^^ 


16 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


ii 


ertson  certainly  had  none,  for  he  was  sure  there  was  no  guile  iu  his  lenmed 
noiglibor,  and  the  Schutt  family  had  as  little,  for  although  they  knew  of 
his  violent  tempet  and  great  lack  of  conscience,  they  thought  hira  too 
great  a  coward  to  do  murder.     But  after  some  weeks  had  elapsed,  and 
the  absence  of  the  family  yet  continuing,  knowledge  of  the  facts  coming 
to  some  citizens  of  Ithaca,  they  tnought  the  affair  a  most  singular  one  in 
.  many  of  its  aspects.     One  gentleman  was  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  foul 
play,  that  he  wont  to  the  house,  and,  forcing  open  the  doors  and  shutters, 
made  a  minute  inspection  of  the  premises.    He  saw  everywliere  indubi- 
table evidence  that  Mrs.  Rulloff  had  gone  away  without  the  slightest 
preparation  lor  aiiy  journey,  howevtr  brief;  and  his  suspicions  being 
strengthened  by  this  fact,  he  hastened  to  communicate  them  to  the  brothers 
of  the  absent  lady,  who  were  then  living  in  Ithaca.    They  were  still  in- 
credulous, but  doubt  had  at  last  taken  lodgment  in  all  minds,  and  the 
disappearance  was  the  common  talk  of  town  and  village.     The  Schutta 
and  others  also  made  a  personal  examination  of  the  deserted  house,  and 
could  not  account  for  its  condition  on  the  hypothesis  of  the  voluntary 
absence  of  the  wife.     The  house  was  in  disorder,  and  articles  of  clothing 
which  she  would  undoubtedly  have  taken  with  her  upon  a  visit,  were 
strewn  everywhere  in  great  confusion. 

Luring  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  this  examination  was  made, 
two  of  the  brothers  sat  alone  in  the  store  of  one  of  them  in  Itliuca,  brood- 
ing and  talking  over  the  awful  mystery  which  had  fallen  upon  them, 
when  the  door  was  suddenly  flung  open  and  Edward  H.  !■  ulloff  stood 
before  them.  A  great  weight  was  lifted  from  their  hearts,  for  they 
thought  the  mystery  solved.  They  greeted  the  comer  with  genuine 
kindly  fervor,  one  excbiiming, 

"  Doctor !    I'm  so  glad  to  see  you.     Where  is  your  wife  ?" 
"Between  the  lakes,"  was  the  prompt  answer  in  a  natural  and  steady 
tone. 

*'  How  strangely  you  manage,"  said  the  brother ;  "  why  the  people  here 
have  been  talking  about  your  murdering  your  wile." 

"  Have  they?"  was  the  interrogative  answer  accompanied  by  a  laugh, 
as  though  such  talk  had  no  other  power  than  to  amuse  the  object  of  sus- 
picion. 

The  brother  who  was  thus  met  was  W.  H.  Schutt  who  then  asked 
Rulloff  up  stairs  to  his  room,  and  the  invitation  was  accepted.  There  he 
recurred  to  the  talk  about  murder,  and  saying  he  was  surprised  that  peo- 
ple should  think  that  he  would  commit  such  a  deed,  asked  if  it  would  be 
safe  for  him  to  go  into  the  streets.  He  then  said  his  wife  was  near  Eiie, 
Pennsylvania,  in  the  neighborhood  of  another  Schutt  brother  whom, 
however,  he  had  not  called  to  see  because,  as  ho  said,  for  lack  of  time. 


u  his  lenrned 
hey  knew  of 
ght  him  too 
elapsed,  and 
facts  coming 
i^jular  one  in 
nncod  of  foul 
and  shutters, 
liere  iudubi> 
the  slightest 
licioiis  being 
the  brothers 
were  still  in- 
nds,  and  the 
The  Schutta 
1  house,  and 
le  voluntary 
I  of  clothing 
a  visit,  ■were 

1  ^vas  made, 
luioa,  brood- 
upon  them, 
ullofF  stood 
ts,  for  they 
±h  genuine 


and  steady 
people  here 
by  a  laugh, 

)ject  of  8U3- 

thon  asked 
There  he 
d  that  peo- 
t  would  be 
near  Eiie, 
her  whom, 
ck  of  time. 


?  THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES.  jf 

He  did  not  say  with  whom  Harriet  was,  and,  although  liig  storios  were 
contradictory  to  the  verge  of  incoherence,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  ex- 
cited the  suspicion  of  W.  H.  Schutt,  who  invited  his  brother  in-law  to 
j      share  his  room  for  the  night.    This  invitation  was  also  accepted,  but  he 
could  not  sleep,  and  appearing  restless  during  the  night,  Sohutt  asked  the 
cause,  when  he  said  that  it  troubled  him  to  think  the  people  should  iro^ 
agine  that  he  had  killed  his  wife  and  child.     Schutt  told  him  to  be  easy, 
for  he  could  doubtless  explain  matters  satisfactorily,  and  the  night  passed 
without  further  incident.     For  the  next  few  days  he  was  a  visitor  in  turn 
to  several  of  the  relatives  of  his  wife,  and  being  everywhere  questioned, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  his  wife,  returned  evasive 
answers,  but  generally  asserted  that  she  was  between  the  lukos.     After 
the  lapse  of  about  a  week  he  returned  to  Ithaca  and  was  again  the  guest 
of  his  brother-in-law,  W.  H.  Sohutt.     He  now  placed  his  family  further 
away,  and  said  they  were  in  Madison,  Lake  county,  Ohio,  where  he  said 
he  had  engaged  a  school  and  had  excellent  prospects,  while  his  wife  was 
pleased  with  the  chmate  and  society.     His  return,  he  said,  was  solely  for 
the  purpose  of  closing  his  affairs  in  Tompkins  county,  and  to  remove  hia 
household  goods  to  his  new  abode.     Mrs.  Hannah  Schutt,  the  mother  of 
the  wile,  to  whom  these  stories  had  first  been  told,  with  the  intuition  of 
a  woman  and  a  mother,  was  the  first  to  detect  their  falsehood,  and  tiie  ex- 
pression  of  her  conviction  was  to  drive  Eulloff  from  the  house. 

It  18  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  general  public  of  Ithaca  coming 
to  hear  o   these  contradictory  tales,  were  convinced  that  murder  had  been 
done      Iliere  were  no  detective  police  in  that  country,  and  the  work  of 
ferreting  out  the  crime  which  had  been  committed,  was  either  to  be  left 
undone  or  voluntarily  assumed.     In  this  dilemma  a  number  of  gentlemen 
made  a  formal  call  upon  Eulloff  while  he  was  at  the  house  of  his  brother- 
m- law,  and  demanded  that  he  should  satisfy  them  with  positive  evidence 
of  the  whereabouts  of  hi.  wife  and  child.     He  repeated  almost  verbatim 
us  conduct  of  years  before  when  charged  with  the  theft  in  St.  John,  and 
became  abusive  of  the  self-appointed  committee,  who,  in  his  view,  were 

oi'lfrTl  '  ^'^  T  ^"'  ^^"^«*^«  '^^'''''-     ^"*  th«««  --e  the  firs 
citizens  of  Ithaca,  and  were  determined  not  to  be  driven  by  a  few  hard 

words  from  a  duty  they  considered  they  owed  to  the  public,  and  they  told 

Jum  plamly  that  unless  he  gave  some   satisfactor/ e.pl.'nation  of  the 

where  .bouts  of  his  wife,  they  would  cause  him  t.  bo  placed  under  arr  st 

1  mdmg  fi-oai   tjieir  determined  manner  that   he  must   do   something, 

0  turned  to   the  outraged   family  and   asked.  "What  shall   T   do'?' 

thus  showing   himself,  as   lie  always  did,  one  of  the  most  helples's  of 

rimiins  when  driven  to  cover.     So  long  as  he  was  only  required  to  re- 

cite  a  tale  learned  by  rote,  he  was  equal  to  i       emergency,  and  could 


'I 


I 


18 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES 


carry  all  before  him  with  a  braving  show  of  honesty,  but  he  was  then,  as 

always,  unmanned  when  confronted  with  a  sudden  crisis.    "What 

shall  I  do  ?"  cried  in  his  utter  helplessness,  was  one  key  to  his  chnracltT, 

and  another  was  his  readiness  to  catch  at  any  suggestion  ofTered,  as  he 

did  then  with  that  of  one  of  theSchutt  brothers  to  write  a  letter  to  his 

wife  asking  her  to  dispel  the  painful  rumors  in  circulation,  by  an  answer 

I  by  return  mail,  and  that  meantime  he  should  remain  in  Ithaca.     He  pro- 

|fe8sed  his  hearty  concurrence,  and  gave  his  word  of  honor  to  remain 

,  where  he  was  until  the  answer  should  be  received.     It  being  understood 

that  the  Schutts  would  see  that  the  letter  was  written  and  mailed  the 

committee  was  satisfied  and  withdrew. 

When  they  wore  gone,  Eulloff  sat  down  to  write  the  promised  letter, 
but  was  apparently  suffering  from  strong  mental  agitation  as  he  made 
several  attempts  before  he  succeeded  in  producing  one  satisfactory  to 
himself.  It  was  shown  to  the  Schutts,  and  as  it  was  a  literal  fulfillment 
^of  his  promise,  asking  the  absent  wife  to  send  him  a  Hne  as  soon  as  pos- 
jsible,  if  it  were  nothing  more  than  to  say  that  she  was  alive  and  well,  it 
was  decided  to  be  sufficient.  It  was  directed  to  "  Mrs.  Harriet  Eulloff, 
care  of  N.  Dupuy,  Madison,  Ohio,"  and  was  mailed  the  same  evening  by 
one  of  the  Schutts.  For  a  period  of  twenty  minutes  Edward  H.  Eulloff 
was  generally  regarded  in  the  town  as  a  man  who  bad  been  cruelly 
wronged  by  most  unjust  suspicions. 


bo 

any 

for 

tricl 

Viilf 

trai 

for 

■> 

true 

witli 

CHAPTEE  V. 

FLIGHT  AND  CAPTURE. 

Whilb  Mr.  Schutt  was  yet  at  the  post-office  talking  with  the  citizens, 
and  receiving  their  congratulations  that  there  was  now  some  reason  to 
believe  that  his  sister  was  yet  alive,  another  inmate  of  the  house  ran 
breathlessly  up  to  say  that  Eulloff  had  just  left  it,  and  gone  out  on  the 
Auburn  road  at  the  top  of  his  speed.  Instantly  there  was  a  revulsion  of 
feeling  against  him,  as  this  sudden  flight,  almost  at  the  moment  he  had 
given  his  promise  to  remain,  Avas  considered  conclusive  evidence  of  guilt. 
It  was  at  last  determined  to  adopt  effective  measures  with  this  man  Avho 
had  become  a  public  pest,  and  a  warrant  being  obtained  for  his  arrest, 
on  a  charge  of  murder,  several  ]iersons  started  in  pursuit.  At  the  edge 
of  the  town  they  met  a  gcntlomnn  coming  in,  who  told  them,  that  a  short 
distance  out,  he  saw  a  man  whom  he  thought  at  the  first  glance  was 
coming  rapidly  towards  him,  hut  whom,  on  getting  nearer,  he  found  to 


was  thon,  as 
is.  "What 
i«  chnracltT, 
ffeied,  as  he 
letter  to  his 
y  an  answer 
a.  lie  pro- 
r  to  remain 
understood 
mailed  the 

mised  letter, 
aa  he  made 
itis factory  to 
.1  fulfillment 
soon  as  pos- 
and  well,  it 
•riet  Eulloflf, 
I  evening  by 
i  H.  Eulloff 
•een  cruelly 


ilip  citizens, 

e  reason  to 

house  ran 

out  on  the 

•evulsion  of 

ent  he  had 

ice  of  guilt. 

is  man  Avho 

his  arrest, 

Lt  the  edge 

hat  a  short 

glanre  was 

lie  found  to 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  if 

bo  going  toward  Ithac.a.     After  passing  him,  witliout,  however,  paying 
any  hoed  to  hun,  the  gentleman  stopped  to  water  his  horse  long  enough 
for  the  man  to  come  up,  but  yet  saw  nothing  more  of  })im.     This  shallow 
trick  d'd  not  serve  to  deceive  even  tlie  amateur  detectives  of  a  country 
vilingo,  niul  it  was  concluded  that  Eulloff  was  aiming  to  make  a  certain 
tram  u-cstward  from  Auburn.     Mr.  Ephraim  Schutt  was  specially  detailed 
for  the  pursuit,  and  he,  still  thinking  that  the  story  of  the  fugitive  was 
true,  detormined  to  go  on  to  Madison,  Ohio,  leaving  an  officer  to  follow 
with  a  requisition  for  arrest,  to  be  used  or  not,  aa  circumstances  might 
require.     Being  too  late  for  the  steamer  on  Cayuga  Lake,  he  took  a  horse 
nn.l  wagon,  and  by  dint  of  liard  driving  across  the  country,  reached  Au- 
burn  m  time  for  the  train.     Looking  through  the  cars  while  they  wer« 
standing  at  the  depot,  he  did  not  see  the  fugitive,  but  lie  determined   nev- 
ortholess,  to  go  on.     At  the  next  station  he  was  surprised  to  see  Eulloff 
stop  from   one   of  the   forward   cars,  an<i   stand   as  if  in   doubt   what 
next  to  do.     Schutt  was  in  the  same  dilemma,  and  before  ho  had  made 
vp  his  mind   the  train  started.      He  thon  made  another  search,  and 
was  rewarded  by  finding  his  brother-in-law  seated  in  the  emigrant  car. 
EulloIT  gave  him  a  look  of  mingled  ferocity  and  fear,  which  Schutt  only 
answered  by  asking  for  an  explanation  of  his  strange  conduct.     The  other 
replied  with  a  plentiful  sprinkHng  of  his  customary  oaths  that  the  people 
o    Ithaca  had  acted  so  like  fools,  that  he  had  resolved  to  give  them  all 
the  trouble  he  could,  and  was  therefore  on  his  way  to  his  wife,  whither 

to  one  of  kindly  confidence,  he  proposed  to  Schutt  to  accompany  him  to 
Madison,  and  see  for  himself  how  false  had  been  all  the  suspicions  of  h^ 
conduct  The  proposal  was  cordially  accepted,  and  the  two  men  travell  d 
on  together.  A  ni8.ht  was  spent  at  Buffalo,  whore  the  two  men  occupied 
the  same  room,  and  Eulloff  exhibiting  his  swollen  and  blistered  Lt 
poihaps  to  convince  his  companion  that  he  could  not  run  away  again 

I  haca  to  Auburn   which  is  a  distance  of  nearly  forty-five  miles,  between 
the  setting  and  rising  of  the  sun.     Lulled  into  a  false  security  by  those 
bl  stei.d  foot,  Schutt  might  have  been  a  little  careless  the  nexf  morninT 
vhen  they  were  forcing  their  way  through  an  immense  crowd  on  boani 
the  boat  for  Cleveland.     Getting  on  b.ard  himself  only  at  the  last  mo 
men t,   he  vessel  had  already  left  hoi-  wharf  before  he  discovered tTa 
Eu  loff  h.d  not  followed  hn.i,  and  w  ,3  not  on  board.     He  then  for  the 
first  time  became  convinced  that  Eulloff  was  guiitv,  and  quickly  deter 
nnnod  on  the  course  he  would  pursue.     Going' n  with  aU^b^ 'CtJ 
..  Ma.hson,  it  required  little  time  there  to  learn  that  no  slich  person  al 
:N.  Dupuy  was  known  any  where  in  the  vicinity;  and  that  his^sister  as 


■ 


se 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


well  as  her  huahnnd  woie  equally  unknown.  Upturning  witli  all  possible 
dispatch  to  Clovoliuid,  hu  wuh  in  titno  to  be  at  tiie  whurf  whoii  the  oiri- 
grant  boat  from  Biifl'iilo  arrived.  Ilo  had  previously  conimuni(;at»)d  wilh 
the  auttu)ritie8,  and  was  ac-coiupanied  by  an  officer  armed  with  a  proper 
warrant  of  arroat.  The  passengers  were  olosely  matched  as  they  came 
from  the  boat,  but  Kullofi  was  not  seen  among  them,  and  Schutt  ior  a 
moment  thought  tliat  he  was  defeated  at  the  last  momont.  But  lie  know 
tlie  wilinesH,  in  a  stuall  way,  of  the  fugitive,  and  theroforo  a  search  was 
made  of  the  places  of  public  resort  near  the  wharf.  In  a  dining  saloon 
of  a  low  class,  concealed  behind  a  largo  dry  goods  box,  Schutt  discovered 
the  object  of  th«  search,  and  pointed  him  out  to  the  oflicor,  who  tapi)od 
him  on  the  sliouldor  in  the  old  fashion  of  the  time,  and  a»tkud  him  if  his 
nume  was  Ruiluir.  Tlie  porson  addrossed  answered  in  the  negative,  with 
an  appearance  of  great  surprise ;  but  an  instant  later,  seeing  Scihutt,  he 
saw  that  denial  was  of  no  avail,  and  quietly  surrendered.  Evttn  at  that 
late  hour,  and  although  convinced  that  his  sister  hud  been  foully  doalt 
with,  and  that  the  man  with  whom  he  was  dealing  was  incapable  of 
truth,  Schutt  nuide  a  last  otfor  to  stay  the  avenging  hand  of  the  law  if 
the  disappearance  of  Harriet  could  be  satisfactorily  explained.  RuUofF 
was  unprepared  with  any  other  answer  than  a  proposal  to  go  buck  to 
Ithaca  voluntarily,  rather  than  remain  in  prison  in  Cleveland  until  a 
requisition  could  be  procured  from  the  Governor  of  New  York. 

The  proposal  was  accepted,  but  the  prisoner  did  not  leave  Cleveland 
without  nn  exhibition  of  his  singular  power  over  others,  which  had  so 
often  been  manift'sted  during  his  career.  While  the  boat,  on  which  he 
and  his  captor  were  to  go  to  BulTalo,  was  yet  at  the  Cleveland  wharf,  he 
managed  to  obtain  an  interview  with  the  ofRcer  who  had  arrested  him, 
who  was  celebrated  throughout  Northern  Ohio,  as  *'  Old  Hayes,"  a  de- 
tective of  shrewdness  and  experience.  Even  this  old  and  wary  bird  he 
caught  with  such  chaff  as  this : — "My  friend,  it  is  all  right;  my  wife  and 
child  are  living.  You  see  I  am  a  poor  devil.  Look  at  mo !  Tly  wife's 
family  are  wealthy  and  proud,  and  despise  me  only  because  I  am  (>  >t«r. 
My  wife  loves  me,  and  I  her,  and  we  have  concluded  to  leave  her  family, 
and  go  where  they  will  know  nothing  of  us."  This  and  more  to  the  samo 
effect  was  sot  so  winningly  before  the  officer,  and  was  accompanied  with 
such  intense  emotion,  that  the  officer  was  convinced  he  had  a  cruelly  in- 
jured man  in  ouvtx  dy,  and  was  about  to  permit  him  to  go  whore  ho  ploa.sed, 
when  Schutt  cam:-  n^)  uad  destroyed  this  last  chance  of  escape  by  march- 
in""  Eulloff  off  *'.o  J  ?ii*on?^  room  on  the  boat,  in  which  he  was  locked  up, 
an  1  not  pcriuittt.  i  lo  >  inorge  from  it  until  the  boat  was  in  the  middle  of 
Lake  Krio.  Tlien  Schutt  took  him  <»ut  Upon  the  upper  dock,  ainl  sitting 
down  by  the  pilot  house,  placed  all  the  facts  of  the  case  before  him  as  a 
uioliniinary  to  a  last  demand  for  some  definite  information  of  his  sister. 


th  all  possible 
hon  tlio  <>u:i- 
iunicnt()d  with 
with  a  proper 

as  they  cunie 
1  Schutt  ior  a 

But  lio  know 

a  Hoaroh  was 
dining  saloon 
utt  (lisciovored 
•,  who  tapi)od 
:ud  him  if  his 
legativo,  with 
iif;  S(!lmtt,  he 

Evtni  lit  that 
n  foully  dealt 

inciipablo  of 
of  tho  law  if 
nod.  RuUoff 
to  go  buck  to 
oland  until  a 
ork. 

ive  Cleveland 
vhich  had  so 
,  on  which  he 
ind  wharf,  he 
arreatod  him, 
layes,"  a  do- 
wary  bird  lie 
i  my  wife  and 
(!  "^.T.  wife's 
36  I  on  (,  Kvr. 
re  \wv  faniilv, 
'e  to  the  same 
mpimied  with 
[  a  cruelly  iu- 
ve  ho  pleased, 
,po  by  march- 
as  locked  up, 
the  middle  of 
i,  auil  sitting 
fore  him  as  a 

Qf  his  sibter. 


1 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  21 

Eulloff  only  replied  with  a  proposition  to  end  the  matter  by  jumping 
overboard  ;  to  which  Schutt  coolly  answt  red,  that  it  would  be  a  fitting 
close  to  the  affair,  but  tiiat  liuUolI  wa.  too  grout  a  coward  to  do  it.  The 
prlHonor  juBtilied  the  opinion  of  his  captor,  by  sullenly  keeping  his  seat, 
and  the  next  moment  experienced  that  popular  wrath  he  was  so  often  to 
oncouuter  alterwards.  The  captain  of  the  boat  who  had  overheard  a 
portit)n  of  tho  conversation  approached,  and  in  a  loud  voice  exclaimed  :— 
•'  That  wroti  li  bus  murdered  your  sister !  If  it  was  my  case  I'd  hang 
him  I' I  tho  yard-arm." 

The  words*  wore  heard  and  carried  everywhere,  and  tho  story  of  the 
crime  being  passed  from  lip  to  lip,  the  excited  passengfr.i  would  undoubt- 
.  Iiy  liavo  carried  tho  hint  of  tho  honest  captain  into  exncution  but  for 
tho  timely  interference  of  Schutt,  who  huniod  hii  prisoner  away  and 
looked  him  up  in  his  room. 

At  JJulfalo  a  warrant  was  procured,  and  Schutt  being  constituted  a 
special  ofFicor,  took  legal  possession  of  his  prisoner.  When  on  tho  cars, 
Schutt  produced  a  pair  of  hand-cuffs,  with  which  he  munaclod  his  pris- 
oner, notwithstanding  his  remonstrance  to  the  indignity;  there  had  been 
deceptions  enough,  said  Schutt,  and  ho  was  (let.)rmIuod  that  Ilulloff  should 
now  go  to  Ithaca  whether  ho  liked  it  or  not.  The  prisoner  know  it  not ; 
but  for  tho  first  time  in  his  life  ho  was  about  to  do  the  State  some  service,' 
and  become  of  some  practical  account  in  tho  economy  of  tho  world. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

OOXDBMNATION  AND  rUNISIIMHNT. 

Tub  jonrney  from  Buffalo  to  Itbaca  was  accomplished  without  inci- 
dent, but  tho  news  of  his  coming  preceded  him,  and  when  the  prisoner 
arrived  at  the  town  where  he  had  been  so  kindly  received  three  years 
before,  be  met  one  of  the  most  terrible  but  moat  excusable  storms  of 
rc.ular  indignation  which  any  criminal  was  ever  compelled  to  face. 
The  whole  city  met  him  at  the  depot,  to  gaze  Avith  undisguised  horror 
upon  the  nj.in  who  was  universally  believed  to  have  committed  a  brutal, 
unprovoked  murder;  and  although  no  word  oract  of  insult  was  offered' 
him,  he  stood  that  hour  upon  a  mine  that  the  least  spark  would  have 
ignited,  and  leit  no  trace  of  hira  upon  earth  after  its  explosion.  It  is 
chara.>teristic  of  the  man  that  he  proposed  to  walk  to  the  prison 
througL  these  excited  crowds  and  had  his  proposal  been  accepted, 
there  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  there  would  have  been  no  occasion  to 
unlock  the  prison  doors  for  his  reception.  But  Schutt  refuse.!,  and  the 
journey  being  perform. -d  in  an  omnibus,  RuUoff  was  at  last  in  a  prison 


I 


■f^- 


22 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


c 


he  had  ]oni]^  evaded,  and  in  which  he  was  destined,  long   yeara  after- 
wards, to  bii?ig  sorrow  and  ruin  upon  another  family. 

But  he  was  to  make  a  partial  retribution  for  the  past,  before  an  op- 
portunity for  new  crime  was  to  be   afforde.l  him.     The  bodies  of  his 
iijurdered  victims  Avero  never  found,  altiiough  during  all  that  summer 
Cayuga  Lake  was  constantly  dragged  with  the  most  approved  appa- 
ratus, and  at  an  expense,  it  is  said,  ot  $10,000.     The  District  Attorney 
therefore  determined  that   the  evidence  upon  an  indictment  for  mur- 
der would  be  so  defective  as  to  allow  the  criminal  a  chance  for  escape, 
and  therefore  determined  to  try  him  under  a  clause  of  the  Revised 
Statutes  ibr  the  crime  of  abducting  his  wife,  of  which  offence  the  proof 
was  incontrovertible.      The  trial  came  on  at  the  January  term,  184G, 
of  the  Tompkins  County  Oyer  and  Terminer,  and  was  attended  with 
the  most   profound  public   excitement  which  had  ever  marked  any 
criminal  trial  in  Western  New  York.      The  character  of  the  criminal, 
his   history  so  far  as  it  was  known,  his  ac'iuirements,  his  assumption 
of  superiority  to  his  surroundings,  the  character  and  numbers  of  the 
family  he  had  desolated,  the  involving  of  a  helpless  babe,  of  which  ho 
was  the  father,  in  an  impenetrable  catastrophe,  and   more  than  all, 
perhaps,  the    newness  of  such  turpitude  as  this  crime  evinced  to  the 
community,    all  combined  to  make  the  trial  the  great  event,  not  only 
of  a  year,  but  of  a  generation  of  rural  life.     The  tacts  which  have  been 
stated  in  this  narrative  having  nearly  all  been  placed  in  evidence,  there 
could  of  course  be  but  one  result,  and  the  prisoner  was  sentenced  to 
ten  years  at  hard  labor,  which  was  the  full  penalty  fixed  by  the  law 
tor  the  offence  for  which  he  had  been  tried. 

In  prison,  as  out  of  it,  Edward  II.  Ilulloff  was  a  remarkable  man. 
His  aptitude  in  acquiring  the  outlines  of  every  s-cience  or  handicraft 
was  never  before  so  signally  sliown,  and  he  obtained  some  general 
knowledge  not  only  of  those  mechanical  arts  at  which  he  was  put,  but 
of  all  whicli  he  happened  to  see  carried  on.  He  was  an  enigma  to  the 
prifon  authorities,  who  hardly  knew  how  to  make  the  most  profitable 
use  of  the  prodigy  which  an  outraged  law  had  placed  in  their  custody. 
He  was  tried  in  several  mechanical  departniei«;s,  but  his  cap  icity  was 
beyond  them  all,  and  his  keepers  soon  became  convinced  that  they 
must  devise  some  special  field  of  labor  for  him,  in  order  to  make  the 
best  use  of  him.  He  had  a  mind  which  refused  to  run  in  the  worn 
grooves  of  human  action,  even  in  the  most  trivial  things.  If  he 
was  to  do  nothing  more  important  than  the  sharpening  of  a  hand-saw, 

tlXj    vtiM     tv    Iff    re     "  "*  J     •,"tt«v     tt  -  ,17  if^-rty    atfLt    lO   iiiili    ail    liiipt  I?  V  CUitrU  t    U  V  C'l'    LlJO 

old  method.    He  was  constantly  advancing  new  theories,  some  of 


f 


I 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


23 


yeara  afler- 

efore  an  op* 
odies  of  his 
hat  summer 
roved  appa- 
ct  Attorney 
?nt  for  mur- 
i  for  escape, 
;he  Revised 
le  the  proof 
term,  184G, 
ended  with 
narked  any 
le  criminali 
assumption 
bers  of  tho 
)f  which  ho 
re  than  all, 
iced  to  the 
It,  not  only 
1  have  been 
lence,  tliere 
Mitenced  to 
by  the  law 

cable  man. 

handicraft 
lie  general 
as  put,  but 
iinia  to  the 
,  profitable 
ir  custody. 
)  icity  was 

that  they 
I  make  the 

the  worn 
?s.  If  he 
hand-saw, 

it  OVCf  tho 

,  some  of 


# 


which  were  flimsy  enough,  but  others  were  of  sufficient  coherence  to 
Bt  least  engage  the  attention  of  the  skilled  and  learned.  This  vein  of 
originality  finally  determined  his  field  of  duty  in  Auburn  Prison, 
where  he  became  a  designer  of  patterns ;  and  he  made  them  i'or 
carpets  with  a  wonderful  prodigality  of  invention  and  more  beautiful 
than  had  ever  before  been  produced  in  the  United  States.  Twenty 
years  afterwards  this  accomplishment  was  to  be  a  solaoe  in  moments 
of  unutterable  agony ;  but  in  Auburn  Prison  it  was  no  less  a  delight 
to  him  than  it  was  a  source  of  profit  to  the  State. 

_  His  d-jineanor  during  his  ten  years  of  service  was  in  keeping  with 
his  contradictory  character.     Generally  he  was  docilely  submissive  to 
rules  of  prison  discipline,  and  gained  the  favor  of  the  keepers  by  his 
readiness  to  assume  any  task  and  his  zeal  in  performing.     There  was 
never  any  occasion  to  drive  him  to  work,  for  he  was  always  ready  to 
do  all,  and  even  more  than  all  that  could  possibly  be  required  of  him. 
His  anomalous  position  and  character  gave  him  furtive  enjoyment,  not 
admissible  under  a  strict  enforcement  of  the  rules,  chief  of  which  was 
the  gratification  to  some  extent  of  his  insatiable  appetite  for  books. 
But,  notwithstanding  all  his  advantages,  the  malevolence  of  his  nature 
would  sometimes  flame  up  almost  to  the  point  of  a  flagrant  violation 
of  prison   rules.     Generally  these  displays  were  provoked  by  some 
trivial  act  or  deed  of  a  fellow  convict,  for  it  has  always  been  the  fate 
of  this  monstrosity  to  set  loose  his  consuming  passion  without  suffi- 
cient cause.     But  while  he  was  at  Auburn  he  seems  to  have  kept  bet- 
ter control  of  himself  than  ever  before  or  since  ;  and  he  was  there  known 
only  as  a  man   subject  to  sudden  bursts  of  passion,  but   placable  if 
not  equable,  in  his  disposition.     The  wilful  malice  which  is  the  essen- 
tial  mgredient  of  the  murderer  no  less  than  of  the  crime  of  murder 
few  believed  that  he  had  ;  and  so  the  years  went  on,  and  he  reached 
the  threshold  of  liberty  by  the  expiration  of  his  term  with  the  general 
good  will  of  his  keepers.    His  powers  of  fascination  had  been  exerted 
to  good  pirpose,  and  there  were  among  the  oflicials  some  who  believed 
him  to  be  a  man  outraged  by  the  vindictiveness  of  the  Schutts. 

But  the  feeling  against  RullofT  had  been  strengthened  rather  than 
weukeued  by  time.  As  year  after  year  rolled  away  without  discovering 
the  faintest  trace  of  the  missing  wife  and  child,  the  conviction  became 
more  general  and  profound  that  murder  had  been  done.  It  had  al- 
ready become  so  inexorable  that  at  the  January  term,  1848,  of  the 
Tompkins  Court  of  S'  jsions,  the  District  AttomRv  nhta\poA  on  ;„4j„^ 
raent  for  the  murder  of  Harriet  Kullolf  against  him,  and  it  was  filed 
away  to  await  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  imprisonment,  then  eight 


24 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


!(' 


years  distant.  During  those  eight  years  the  cause  of  the  Scliutt  family 
became  that  of  the  whole  cominunity.  Wlien  RulIofT  stood  at  the  bar 
to  answer  the  charge  of  abduction,  there  were  some  citizens  of  high 
character,  although  few  in  number,  who  believed  that  while  there  were 
some  good  reasons  for  believing  that  wrong  had  in  some  way  been 
done  the  missing  wife,  the  solicitude  of  the  Schutts  had  converted.; 
conjecture  into  certainty  ;  and  that  while  the  chance  remained  that  the 
■wife  would  return  to  give  satisfactory  account  of  her  absence,  wrong 
would  be  done  this  man  by  punishing  him  for  a  crime  which  might 
not  have  been  committed  by  any  one.  But  with  the  lapse  of  time 
this  chance  was  destroyed,  and  every  citizen  of  Tompkins  County  be- 
came as  anxious  to  have  RuUoff  punished  for  the  crime  of  murder  as 
the  Schutts  had  ever  been. 

Long  before  his  term  expired,  he  had  not  a  friend  or  apologist  left 
among  the  people  he  had  outraged  by  a  black  crime ;  and  while  he 
thouo'ht  he  was  approaching  lil»erty,  they  wei*e  determined  that  he 
should  exchange  his  cell  in  Auburn  Prison  only  for  a  gallows  in  the 
yard  of  Ithaca  Jail.  There  was  no  geiieral  public  avowal  of  that  pur- 
pose, but  there  was  never,  probably,  such  tacit  unanimity  among  a 
whole  people  to  accomplish  an  unacknowledged  design.  That  Ed- 
ward 11.  KuUoif  was  to  be  hung  by  the  forms  of  law  if  possible,  but 
without  them  if  necessary,  was  a  judgment  irrevocably  entered  in  the 
public  mind. 


CTIAPTEll  VIL 


CONDEMNED   TO    DEATFT. 


On  a  bleak  day  in  January,  1856,  Edward  H.  RullofT  arose,  as  he 
thought,  to  liberty  and  renewed  life.  On  that  day  the  penalty  exacted 
by  the  law  for  the  crime  it  had  been  able  to  prove  had  been  paid  to 
the  last  minute,  and  the  sentence  of  confinement  at  hard  labor  for  ten 
years  had  been  literally  fulfilled.  For  this  decade  had  been  to  the 
convict  actually  one  of  hard  labor  beyon<l  the  prison  requirements,  or 
the  exactions  of  tlio  law.  His  mind  had  been  abnormally  acUve,  and 
the  work  upon  which  he  had  been  engaged  might  have  been  more 
wearing  upon  ordinary  men  than  the  most  severe  physical  toil.  But 
this  man  had,  among  his  other  accomplishments,  mastered  the  laws  of 
health,  and  he  stood  that  last  morning  in  Aubui  n  Frison  in  ptrfeer, 
physical  condition,  his  flesh  compactly  hard,  his  muscles  all  developed 
to  the  utmost,  and  every  vital  organ  not  only  unimpaired,  but  strength- 


3Wr 


iliutt  family 
i  at  the  bar 
ons  of  high 
there  were 
e  way  been 
[  converted.; 
ned  that  the 
■nee,  wrong 
'liich  might 
)se  of  time 
County  be- 
murder  as 

)ologist  left 
d  while  he 
ned  that  he 
0W9  in  the 
of  that  pur- 
,y  among  a 
That  Ed- 
ossible,  but 
Lered  in  the 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


25 


irose,  as  he 
.Ity  exacted 
een  paid  to 
ibor  for  ten 
een  to  the 
rementa,  or 
active,  and 
been  more 
il  toil.  But 
the  litws  of 
I  in  ptrfeor, 
1  developed 
ut  streiigth- 


M 


ened  by  the  strain  of  ten  years'  confinement.  His  mental  resources 
had  also  been  increased,  and  with  large  additions  to  his  stock  of  gen- 
eral  knowledge,  besides  a  mastery  of  some  specialties  that  might 
stand  him  in  good  service  in  the  future,  no  convict  probably  ever  ap- 
proaclied  liberty  with  more  advantages  than  Edward  H.  Rtilloff.  Cer- 
tainly, none  ever  stood  at  its  threshold  with  more  of  hope,  for  this 
man  has  always  had  a  sturdy  confidence  in  fate,  that  has  led  him  into 
innumerable  crimes. 

I3uton  that  January  morning  his  dreams  were  suddenly  dashed,  at 
least  for  the  moment.      When  his  discharge  was  handed  him  in  the 
oflice  of  Auburn  Prison,  a  stranger  tapped  him  on  the  shoulder  an- 
nounced himself  as  the  Sheriff  of  Tompkins  County,  and  exhibited  a 
warrant  for  his  arrest  on  an  indictment  for  tlie  murder  of  Harriet 
RulIofT.     The  convict  was  staggered  for  a  moment  only.     He  was 
lawyer  enough  to  know  that,  the  people  having  elected  to  try  him  for 
the  abduction  of  his  wife,  they  could  not  go  back,  after  he  had  been  pun- 
ished for  that  offence,  and  again  punish  him  for  the  same  act.    Ho  knew 
what  the  District  Attorney  ought  to  have  known,  and  probably  did 
know,  that  the  evidence  upon  the  trial  for  murder  must  be  the  same  as 
that  upon  the  trial  for  abduction,  and  would  necessarily  bar  a  con- 
viction  for  the  murder  of  his  wife.     Believing  this  indictment  to  be  the 
last  device  of  those  he  considered  his  enemies,  he  went  back  to  Ithaca 
Jan,  convinced  that  it  was  more  of  an  annoyance  than  a  dan^^er  and 
tbat  without  a  doubt  he  would  be  able  to  break  this  new  net  within  a 
lew  weeks. 

_    He  occupied  himself  immediately  upon  his  incarceration  at  Ithaca 
m  preparing  his  case  for  hearing  at  the  first  opportunity.     He  was  too 
poor  to  employ  eounsel,  and  even  if  he  had  not  been,  he  rated  his  own 
powers  too  highly  to  believe  that  they  required  reinforcement  in  such 
a  case  as  tins.     He  again  gained  the  confidence  of  his  jailers   who 
readily  obtained  for  him  whatever  books  he  desired,  which  were'to  be 
tound  among  the  lawyers  of  the  town;  and  supplied  with  these  he 
worked  industriously  in  preparing  his  case  for  hearing  upon  habeas  'cor- 
pus; and  taking  out  the  writ,  the  case  came  on  at  the  April  terra 
1850,  before  Judge  Balcom,  of  the  Supreme  Court.     RuUoff  appeared 
for  himself,  and  was  prepared  with  a  formidable  array  of  authorities 
to  show  that  his  conviction  for  abduction  was  a  bar  to  the  indictment 
for  murder,   and  therefore  that  he   was  illegally  restrained  -f  hh 
liberty.      He  was  prolix,  often  trivial,  and  addicted  to  repetitions  in 
his  argument,  as  he  always  was  afterwards  on  such  occasions ;  but  his 
breath  was  wasted,  for  Judge  Balcom  declined  to  pass  upon  the  point 


26 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


presented  In  a  hearing  upon  habeas  corpus. .  Whatever  effect  the  con- 
viction for  abduction  might  nossess,  it  was  held  that  it  could  only  be 
considered  on  the  trial  for  murder  in  the  Oyer  and  Terminer.  RuUoff 
was  therefore  adjudged  to  be  legally  in  custody,  and  was  remanded  to 
Ithaca  Jail. 

lUs  impatience  to  be  free  defeated  itself.     Mr.  J.  A.  Williams,  then 
District  Attorney,  became  convinced  by  these  proceedings  in  habeas 
corjnis   that  the  indictment  for  the  murder  of  Harriet  Uulloff  was  un- 
tenable, and  abandoned  it.      But  the  people  ot  Tompkins  yet  had  a 
grip  upon  the  prisoner,  and  at  the  June  Court  of  Sessions  an  indict- 
ment was  found  against  him  for  the  murder  of  his  infant  daughter.    In 
the  former  trial  for  abduction  the  child  had  not  been  brought  into  the 
question,  and  the  new  indictment  was  therefore  entirely  free  from  the 
objectious  which  were  fatal  to  the  old.      But  it  was  a  most  curious 
legal  document,  for,  the  manner  of  death  being  unknown,  it  charged 
that  it  had  been  committed  by  poison,  strangulation  and  bodily  assault. 
Confronted  with  this  new  and  more  deadly  danger,  Uulloff  emjjloyed 
counsel,  and  their  first  step  was  to  remove  the  case  to  Tioga  County 
by  certiorari,  upon  the  ground  that  owing  to  the  public  excitement 
and  general  rancor  against  the  prisoner,  an  impartial  trial  could  not  bo 
had  in  Tompkins,  which  was  undoubtedly  the  fact.     Having  taken  this 
precaution,  the  defence  had  no  further  preparation  to  make,  and  tho 
trial  began  before  Judge  Mason  at  the  Tioga  Oyer  and  Terminer,  on 
the  28th  day  of  October,  1856,  and  occup- jd  several  days.      To  show 
how  vividly  the  events  involved  lived  in  the  memory  of  Tompkins, 
even  after  the  lapse  of  eleven  years,  the  following  extracts  from  the 
evidence  are  given : 


i 


_  Hannah  Schutt,  sworn:  Am  mother  of  Mrs.  Rulloff;  she  was  mar- 
ried on  Sundfiy,  and  they  went  the  same  day  to  William's  wedding; 
remained  a  month  or  so  at  Ithaca,  then  came  back  ;  I  saw  that  ."he 
was  unhappy  ;  heard  no  conversation  between  them  that  I  can  rtlate; 
William's  wife  died  on  the  fifth  and  his  child  on  the  third ;  on  the 
fourth  of  June,  wlien  Rulloff  was  about  leaving,  he  said  that  if  Wil- 
liam's wife  and  child  died  lie  might  thank  himself  for  it,  and  we  were 
little  aware  of  the  judgmeiits  that  were  coming  on  our  fainily ;  Rulloff 
and  his  wife  came  to  our  house  in  May,  1845;  stayed  about  three 
weeks;  went  back  to  Lansing,  June  sixteenth  ;  a  few  days  after  they 
came  home  William  came  ;  said  his  wife  was  sick  and  wanted  him  to 
visit  her  ;  the  noxt  day  Rulloff  wanted  me  to  go  and  take  caru  of  her; 
said  he  supposed  I  felt  anxious  for  her  to  get  well ;  then  Rullolf  snid 
William  had  misused  him,  and  it  was  wholly  indifferent  to  him  whether 
she  got  well  ;  that  William  had  misused  him  iibout  Dr.  Bull,  and 
that  thing  would  yet  mount  up  to  the  shedding  oi  hlood  ;  on  the  way 


41 


iffoct  the  con- 
iould  only  be 
ner.  RuUofF 
i  remanded  to 

Williams,  then 
igs  in  habeas 
iiUoff  was  un- 
ins  yet  had  a 
jns  an  indict- 
daughter.  In 
light  into  the 
free  from  the 
most  curious 
n,  it  charged 
odily  assault. 
,uireui)>loyed 
rioga  County 
c  excitement 
I  could  not  bo 
ng  taken  thia 
lake,  and  tho 
Terminer,  on 
a.  To  show 
if  Tompkins, 
lets  from  the 


she  was  mar» 
I's  wedding ; 
saw  that  »\\q 
I  can  relate; 
iiird ;  on  the 
that  if  VVil- 
aud  we  were 
nily;Uulloff 
about  three 
^'s  atler  llu'y 
Anted  him  to 
caru  of  liur ; 
Uullolf.snid 
iiiin  wluitlier 
h:  T],ill,  and 
1  on  the  way 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES.  21 

to  William's  he  said  it  was  strange  that  I  had  raised  so  many  chil- 
dren  without  losmg  any,  but  my  gray  hairs  would  yet  go  down  in 
sorrow  to  the  grave  ;  he  said,  William's  wife  and  child  have  gone  • 
who  wdl  go  next  ?  he  8»id  then  Harriet  and  her  babe  would  ffo 
next ;  this  was  the  5th  of  June,  1845  ;  said  William  liad  misused  him 
a  sliort  tmie  before  he  was  called  to  prescribe  for  the  wife 

•^'^^  ^^'PV.^"' sworn:  I  kept  the  boarding-house  spoken  of :  Mr. 
and  Mts  ItuUolf  were  with  me  off  and  on;  when  they  first  cot  back 
trora  .Jefferson  it  seems  that  the  minister  kissed  both  the  brides-  he 
Kulloff,  said  if  he  was  a  woman  he  would  murder  a  minister  bcix^re  he 
would  permit  him  to  kiss  her;  said  he  didn't  believe  in  such  habits : 
afterwards  they  went  to  a  shilling  party,  and  the  minister  kissed  his 
wife  again;  this  was  about  a  week  after;  he  was  very  angry ;  said 
he  would  never  take  her  anywhere  again;  she  went  witholit  a  meal 
tor  two  days  ;   about  three  weeks  after  the  marriacre  Dr  Bull  called- 

^TAwr\^i^;'"r^  ^^''-  ?"'^^^  ^"^  ^^'-  S^hutt;   HuUoff  g«t  up 
and  let  the  table;  he  came  down  stairs  and  went  away ;   he  didn't 
come  backtodmuer;   Bull  had  then  gone;   Rulloff  came  back  in  a 
little  while  and  went  up  stairs  ;  then  came  down  ;  then  we,  William's 
r/M""     4-r"^  "^  ^"^  found  her  sobbing  ;   the  last  of  April  or  first 
of  May,  William  went  to  Jefferson  and  stayed  longer  than  Rulloff 
wished  ;   the  latter  was  very  angry;  Rulloff  was  determined  that  the 
li.  fnff  /  f  S^^r!r  ^^^.'^  and   pushed  it  towards  the  stairs;  Mrs. 
Rulloff  followed  to  the  stairs;  I  heard  something  like  a  blow ;   as  I 
Rnll  ff--'-J  T^  l^^r^.and  she  said,  Oh,  Jane,  come  up  quick  l' Mrs. 
Rul  off  said,  Edward  is  going  to  make  me  take  poison  and  lake  it  himl 
T  In!  ^^^^-^^^^^^-^  «l;"fhed  together;  he  had  the  bottle  in  his  hand,  and 
I  and  she  tried  to  take  it  away  ;  I  took  hold  of  her ;   he  said.  By  the 
hving  God,  this  poison  will  kill  both  of  us  in  five  niinutes  and  that 
would  put  an   end  to  their  troubles ;  he  saw  they  .vere  g£/  L 
better  ot  h.m  and  he  threw  it  out  of  the  window  ;   then  thtfe  crot^over 
the  exctemer^t,  aud  he  began  to  twit  her  about  Bull,  and  slfe^dropped 

he     M .  rT  ^"-^  T,'^'  ?'''  ^'^'Y'^^  ^  ^"^  ^""«^^«"t  a«  ^"  «"born  child  ; 
he  struck  her  in  the  face,  and  said.  Get  away,  G-d  d-n  you  •    yoj 
know  better  than  to  come  near  n.    when  I  am  angry  as  iZ  \Z 
he  blow  knocked  her  over;  she  looked  very  red  in  the  lace-  he  t^ieu 

he'v^rsheHrtoToHf;rrV"^^  ^'^N^^*-  ^^^''-^^^  ^-^  alUhe'pleas'e 
She  wiMed  to,  lor  he  didn't  want  to  live  with  her  any  more  :  he  char-^ed 

her  with  sexual  impropiieties;   his  language  was  iLtty  I  i^ad      that 

was  about  a    that  was  said  ;  I  advisod'^hinT  to  go  iway  an     iJav^e  her' 

ief af  Ch  k  'Sd  hi  Tif''  rr '2  ^"^^^  ''"^^  '^  ^""*''-  he  woulAei^'j 
a  Jemh.nnn   n    1  ^^  ^u'^'K  murdered  his  wife  ;    said  Clark  was 

K    ,.    r  '       >     l'"'^"^^  "^''P  ^'''  ''''  «"^  ^«  "^''^^^  '"^-at ;  that  night 
he  canned  them  back;   two  or  three  days   a ftor war-Is  h"  W--^  v^o  til 

l/  I  hrfor  f.        Iv-  r   ""T  ,'"  ^''^"^  ^^^'^^^^  ^t  "'^'>t'  and  sat  down 
ui^T^tZ^u!!^!!!,^'^^  '-  '-"!^'  -Vl  -<^  He  sometimes 
honest  m:) 


wi 


ieltlike  (lestrojnng  the  whole'fomiiy^kVr then  being  hung   i.Ke  an 
lan,  as  Clark  was  ;   Clark  was  hung  some  twenfy-six  ^eaisago! 


i.   ;-!!■ 

ihI: 

■if!; 


28 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVEa 


Thomas  RoTiertson  sworn:  Lived  in  Lansing  in  1845,  and  live  there 
now;  knew  defendant  and  family;  livp  on  the  middle  road,  five  miles 
north  from  Iihaca ;  for  a  few  weeks  he  and  I  lived  near  each  other  a 
scant  mile  and  a  half  from  the  lake ;  his  house  was  on  the  corner  op- 
posite mine;  I  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  road,  defendant  on  the  east 
side,  but  the  width  of  the  road  north  ;  part  of  the  time  they,  as  was* 
paid,  were  at  Mrs.  Rulloff 's  father's ;  his  family  consisted  of  a  wife  and 
Jemale  child ;  in  June,  '44  or  '45,  Rulloff  called  on  me  for  a  horse  and 
wagon,  between  ten  or  eleven  o'clock ;  he  wanted  a  wagon  to  carry  a 
chest  of  his  uncle's  to  Mottville;  think,  but  am  not  certirin,  that  he 
named  his  uncle  as  Boyce;  Mottville  is  eight  or  ten  miles  from  my 
place  ;  I  let  him  have  the  horse  and  wagon,  but  reluctantly,  because 
It  was  an  extreme  hot  day  ;  he  came  for  the  horse  a  few  minutes  after 
twelve;  he  took  dinner  with  us;  just  after  dinner  my  son  and  he  got 
the  horse  and  went  to  his,  Rulloff 's,  door;  I  saw  them  there  and  went 
over,  and  just  as  I  got  there  defendant  was  pushing  a  chest  towards  the 
door,  and  took  hold  of  it  to  put  it  in  the  wagon ;  I  said,  shall  I  help 
you  load  it?  he  said,  If  you  please,  sir;  I  did  it,  and  he  went  in  the 
house,  leaving  the  door  about  one-third  open  ;  I  moved  the  horse  across 
the  street  into  the  shade;  subsequently  he  drove  off;  the  end  of  the 
chest   was   heavier   than   if  filled  with   ordinary  clothing;    my  end 
weighed  about  sixty  or  seventy  pounds ;  a  part  of  the  building  had 
been  previously  used  for  a  store ;  the  windows  had  tight  shutter.-,  fthey 
were  sometimes  shut  and  sometimes  open ;  the  south  windows  were 
dosed,  and  one-half  of  one  towards  me  was  open  ;  am  not  positive 
about  this ;  he  went  directly  south  on  the  road  to  Mottville;  that  road 
did  not  communicate  with  the  lake,  except  by  other  cross  roads  that 
he  could  have  taken;  there  are  woods  upon  these  roads  going  to  the 
lake  ;  after  I  hitched  the  horse  R.  came  out  with  a  flour  sack  oi-  pillow 
ease  about  one-third  full,  and  put  it  into  the  wagon  ;  have  not  seen  the 
family  since;  he  brought  the  horse  and  wagon  back  about  twelve  the 
'next  day;  the  horse  didn't  seem  to  have  been  driven,  wasn't  sweaty  • 
■was  as  hot  a  day  as  the  one  previous  ;  he  took  dinner  with  us  that  day  • 
at  three  or  four  p.m.  I  saw  Mr.  Rulloff  going  towards  Mottville  or  Ith- 
aca with  a  bundle  in  his  hand  ;  bundle"  was  tied  up  in  a  reddish  shawl 
or  handkerchief. 

Richard  K.  Swift,  sworn,  says  :  I  reside  in  Chicago  ;  lived  there  in  . 
1845;  dealt  in  money,  principally  in  real  estate  ;  think  in    1845  my  I 
brother  was  applied  to  for  a  loan  by  a  man  ;  my  brother  refused  ;  heard  ^ 
the  man  say  he  hail  lost  his  wife  and  child,  and  was  out  of  m«niey ;  I 
fr-Md  to  brother  if  he  didn't  let  him  have  the  money  I  would  ;  1  let  h'ira 
have  $25  or  $30,  for  which    he  gave   me   his  noce,  signed,  1   believe 
James  H.  Revillee  ;  he  left,  as  security  for  the  payment  of  his  note  a 
brown  chest,  snuff  brown,  I  think  about  eighteen  inches  across  ends, 
three  feet  or  more  long  ;  as   near  as  I  can  ni.-w  remember  he  said  his 
wife  and  child  died  south  of  Chicago,  on  the  Illinois  river,  in  Illinois* 
1  think  he  said  they  died  about  six  weeks  before;    I  was  at  Ithaca  in' 
August  last,  saw  the  defendant  ;  I  thought  I  reco'^nizcd  him;  I  might 
not  have  recognized  him  iu  a  crowd  j  he  lold  me  if  he  didn't  return  m 


M 


.% 


'"^^Ss 


nd  live  there 
id,  iive  miles 
^ach  other,  a 
le  corner  op- 
t  on  the  east 
they,  as  waf« 
of  a  wife  and 
a  horse  and 
)n  to  carry  a 
tirin,  that  he 
es  from  my 
itly,  because 
ainiites  after 

and  he  got 

ire  and  went 

i  towards  the 

shall  I  help 

went  in  the 

horse  across 

end  of  the 
g;  my  end 
)uilding  had 
utters ;  they 
ndows  were 
not  positive 
e ;  that  road 
3  roads  that 
foing  to  the 
ck  or  pillow 
not  seen  the 
t,  twelve  the 
n't  sweaty  ; 
us  that  day; 
iVille  or  Ith- 
ddish  shawl 

'ed  there  in  . 
in    1845  my  | 
used ;  heard  ^ 
f  money;  I 
fl ;  1  let  him 
1,  1   believe, 
his  note,  a 
across  ends, 
he  said  his 
in  Illinois ; 
it  Ithaca  ill 
m;  I  mi<f|it 
I'l  return  ia 


CAPT.  HENRY  HEDDE 


N. 


w^ 


'  \ 

"• 

a 

;  1 1 

\ 

an 

»    . 

th 
til 

\ 

18 
le( 
inf 

^ 

ou 

i 


he 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  29 

a  certain  time  T  was  to  write  to  a  certain  place  near,  I  think,  the  Mo- 
hawk  river,  and  he  would  remit  the  money  ;  I  wrote  and  received  no 
answer  ;  I  then  with  Dr  Byn  and  others,  opened  the  chest :  found  a 
good  many  books,  the  box  now  in  court,  a  sheet,  and  some  oth^r 
things  ;  he  was  there  with  me  and  got  the  money,  August  4,  1846  ; 

Vi   i«;l?    /  ^  ^  f  ^ir'^  ^  ^^^^  *  statement,  made  out  February 
18,  1847,  of  contents  of  the  box;  I  remember  a  large  bundle  of  papers 
lect  ure8  on  phrenology,  Hooper's  Dictionary,  E.  it  Rulloff  written  on 
mside  cover ;  some  ot  the  names  were  erased  ;  names  of  places  rubbed 
out;   Boof  names  of  persons;   small  box  contained  women's  fixings 
papers  in  bottom  of  box,  letters,  card«  marked  Edward  H  Rulloff -a 
paper  on  which  were  the  words,  «  Oh,  that  dreadful  hour"l»   one  lock 
of  I'ght  brown  hair  in  papc^-  labelled  a  lock  of  Harriet's  or  Mary's 
hair;  I  thought  Harriet ;  think  the  chest  was  heavy  with  books  .saw 
a  pocket-book  m  box  ;   can't  identify  it ;   style  of ^caTd  is  the  same^ 
pan-  of  hose  like  these ;  remember  a  piece  of  silk  and  a  bead^al  Hke 
this ;  the  small  box  was  m  our  house  for  many  years  ;   the  lock  ol'  hair 
was  lost,  and  so  of  the  loose  pieces  of  paper  on  which  the  words  were 
written;  I  remember  a  figured  lace  cap  for  an  infant ;   tTie  si  k  was 
light-colored,  ash-colored  ;  there  were  alot  of  small  sea  shells! 

The  jury  rendered  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and  Judge  Mason,  overrulin<. 
amotion  to  stay  judgment,  pronounced  sentence  of  death  upon  th? 
J.risoner.  But  he  was  not  yet  at  the  end  of  his  resources,  nor  near  the 
end  of  a  rope  The  s.cond  phase  of  the  long  and  bitter  stru-rgle  be- 
tween him  and  the  law  was  yet  to  come,  accompanied  by  the  strangest. 
and,  in  their  effects  upon  others,  the  saddest  episodes  of  his  career 


CHAPTER  VHI. 

STRUGGLE   AND   KSCAPB. 

A  MAN  under  sentence  of  death  rarely  fails  to  exhaust  the  technical 
.ties  of  the  aw  before  he  goes  to  the  gallows,  and  Rulloff  was  n"  ex 
ception  to  the  general  rule.     The  first  step  w^s  an  appeal  toTh    Tio'a 
General  Term,  which  was  obtained  with  a  stay  of  proceedings,  and  the 
cause  was  heard  at  the  April  Term,  1857.     The  point  of  la;  nvolved 
was  one  of  great  mterest  and  importance,  upon  which  there  was  not 
then  any  authoritative  decision  in  the  State  of  New  York.     In  RuHoff' 
case  the  dead  body  of  the  child  never  having  been  found,  the  corl 
^.^.o^Uiad  necessarily  been  proven,  or  perhaps  it  mi^ht  more  ,Zf Z 
be  «..d,  wncrred  from  circumstantial  evidence.     In  opening  the  case  n 
Oyer  and  Terminer,  the  District  Attorney  had  distinctly  nin  ted  th" 

fence  claimed  as  the  chief  ground  of  error  that  the  Coun  should  have 


c 


II    1 


80 


T[IE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


immediately  RtoppaJ  the  prosecution.  The  points  involved  in  the  ap-' 
peal  were  aii|ued  at  great  length  and  with  oousammatu  ability  by  Hon. 
Daniel  S.  Dickinson  for  the  people,  and  Joshua  A.  Spencer  for  the 
prisoner.  The  Judges  gave  separate  and  elaborate  opinions,  in  which 
thoy  reviewed  all  the  authorities,  domestic  and  ft)i  gn;  but  in  conclu- 
Bion,  Judges  Mason  and  Grey  held  that  as  a  rule  of  law  the  corpus  de- 
licti could  be  shown  by  circumstantial  evidence,  and  believing  that  it 
had  been  fully  shown  by  such  evidence  in  the  case  at  bar,  refused  to 
disturb  the  judgment  of  the  Oyer  and  Terminer.  Judge  IJalcom  dis- 
sented from  this  opinion  in  its  first  branch,  holding  that  the  corpus  de- 
licti could  only  bo  proven  by  positive  testimony.  IJut  tiio  majority 
having  suslaiued  the  verdict,  RuUoff  was  again  in  most  imminent 
danger  of  tlie  gallows,  and  although  measures  were  instantly  adopted 
to  take  the  case  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  Rulloff  had  resolved  not  to 
trust  his  life  any  further  to  the  uncertainties.  This  determination 
brought  into  the  foreground  of  his  life  one  of  its  most  repulsive  fea- 
tures. 

The  Under-Sheriff  and  jailer  of  Tompkins  County  at  that  time  was 
Jacob  Jarvis,  a  man  of  excellent  repute  and  blessed  witii  the  most 
happy  domestic  ties.  His  wife  was  an  exemplary  woman,  an  1  among 
his  children  was  Albert  T.  Jarvis,  then  18  years  of  age,  and  a  young 
man  of  most  correct  habits  and  excellent  promise.  Into  this  happy 
circle  the  prisoner  easily  wormed  his  way,  for  the  family  lived  in  the 
jail  building,  and  being  brought  into  frequent  contact  with  all  its 
members,  he  gained  the  conlidence  of  all  by  his  winning  manners  and 
captivating  address.  So  absolute  was  the  faith  in  him  that  Mr.  Jarvis 
allowed  his  son  to  spend  all  his  days  in  the  cell  of  the  prisoner,  taking 
lessons  from  him  in  Latin,  French,  stenography  and  other  branches  of 
learning.  The  father  thought  his  son  was  laying  the  foundations  for 
future  usefulness  and  honor,  while  in  fact  he  was  being  prepared  for 
a  shameful  career  and  an  ignominious  death,  while  yet  the  'first  blush 
of  manhood  was  upon  him.  Jarvis  was  warned  in  vain  of  what  might 
result  from  this  intimacy  between  his  son  and  the  prisoner  by  Mr. 
Ephraira  Sohutt,  who  had  come  to  fully  understand  tlio  character  of 
that  monster.  At  last,  during  the  night  of  the  5th  of  May,  1857,  the 
mine  which  had  been  so  long  preparing  under  the  feet  of  the  in- 
fatuated father  was  fired  by  the  escape  of  Rulloff  from  jail,  with  the 
plain  connivance  of  some  one  of  the  jailer's  family,  and  the  disappear- 
ance with  him  of  Albert  T.  Jarvis,  who  was  henceforth  to  live"^  the 
shadowed  life  of  a  burglar.    The  Jarvis  family  was  thenceforward  a 


'"■''^fc 


vod  in  the  np- 
bility  by  Hon. 
encor  for  the 
ions,  in  which 
but  in  conclu- 
tlio  corpus  de- 
libving  that  it 
»ar,  refused  to 
e  lialcom  dia- 
the  corpus  c?«- 
i  tho  majority 
OBt  iinaiinont 
intly  adopted 
jsolved  not  to 
determination 
repulsive  fea- 

tliat  time  was 
ritli  the  most 
1,  an  1  among 

and  a  young 
to  this  happy 
y  lived  in  the 
i  witli  all  its 

manners  and 
at  Mr.  Jarvis 
isoner,  taking 
r  branches  of 
undations  for 

prepared  for 
he  'first  blush 
f  what  might 
isoner  by  Mr. 

character  of 
:ay,  1857,  the 
et  of  the  in- 
jail,  with  the 

htt  fliRaf^r>par. 

1  to  live  the 
nceforward  a 


Tim  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  gj 

ing  the  country  was  placarded  with  posters  like  this:     ""'"^'^^''^^"'^- 

ed^ol^htU'itr^oVJ^^^^^^^^^ 

villaj?e.  II«  was  a  sis  od  in  1  r^'^^'''  '  ^'^^P*^*^  ^'"""^  '»'«  J'"'  i'»  this 
Bide  of  the  jaiL  SaTd  R,  lo  r ^  IT.^F  ?L"^  'T''^""  ""^  i'^''«»"«  O"'- 
Bhort  thick'  n  ok  larS  S^"t"  'J««^«J"«'"^« .'"'«''.  "tout  built, 
stoops  tbrwanl  when   he  walk«    «.    V^^"'";^^^  '"o^io-'s,  and 

languages,  and  hi  la  beard  ot-s^mf^f;  ^'"?'r?'  ^T''''"^  ^^^'^  ^^'^^r 
he  lefCwiMghs  about  1  sols,  Znur^^^^^^^^  when 

round  the  waist  37  or  38  inches  wTk  T  ^u^  ''^''''^  ^^  "'"'^es, 
hair,  rather  small,  dark  bie  oi  hL?!  ^7^"  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^^'^'^  l^-own 
some  calh>uses  on'hLtwerca^^e'd  W  ^Jl'k  r  l£  w '^^^'  ^••^'•^^'?^ 

ieadtoThei^!vi,  oV:f'r;:tT,elTo^!?^  ^"^'^  ^•;*--^^-"  -  «i-n 

cape  of  the  said  Edward  H  RHlnf?  f  T'^^?"'  who  aided  in  tho  as- 
IruAOA,  N.  T.,  May  29,  iesV  '         •^'  ""^  ^'""■^*''"'  ^'""""y- 


Proclamation  by  John  A    Tr:»^   n 

Information  haWn,  ten   o     ^^""^^'•''/'^-  ^'«^^  ofm.oYorlc: 

Sheriff  of  the  cortyffT:mpkrird'l?ot/'  "^  '^  ^-  ''  I^* 
of  that  county,  that  Edward  II  Rulh  IK  7  ^^^^'^''/'espectable  residents 

infant  daughter,  had  esca^fed  f^;"„^' u  e  i" V''An^^^'^«  •""'•*^«'-  "*'l'i« 
that  a  reward  should  be  Xed  L'J^  u  ^''''''^^' ^'"^'^  a  request 
Rulloff  in  addition  to  the  reward  0^^^^!/?"  \\"  ^Pl>'-^'''«n«ion  of  said 
therefore,  hereby  offer  a  rewan   of  fiv.l      7  '?^  '"''^  ^'^^'-i^"-     I  do, 

Led  one  thousand  eig„e  hundtS  and '^K,'  t  ^'^"^  °"' 
II-^NBT  I.  SbSA    ''°™™°''>  J^HN  A.  KING. 

Private  Secretary/. 

Onlv  confiiainr*  «.]•■ "  •     -    = 

hiding  f„„„  the  la^'Zrr'  '"°  '"'"'"^  "''""  '"'  »''toin<-d  dnrina  his 
pect,t,f  this  r en    k"w:  .tfnarrd  "'t "'"»  '■'■'»'  """-'"'^  -  - 

^  lorm,  a  statement  recently  made 


89 


TIIE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVEa 


by  A.  B.  Richmond,  Esq.,  of  Meadvillo,  Pa.,  and  published  in  the  Jt*- 
publican  of  that  town,  is  now  appended : 

It  was  in  the  winter  time,  about  twelve  years  aero,  that  1  was  pitting 
in  my  office,  when  a  man  carae  in,  dressed  in  cheap,  plain  garments, 
lookin''  like  a  farmer,  and  asked  if  this  was  Mr.  Richmond.  1  replied 
that  \i  was,  when  he  said  that  he  had  heard  that  1  had  invented  a 
patent  machine,  and  wished  to  know  if  I  would  be  willintj  to  get  an 
acent  to  sell  it  for  me.  He  said  hia  name  was  James  kelson  ;  that, 
although  a  stranger  to  me,  yet  ho  could  jrive  me  utidoiibti-d  rofeiences 
as  to  character,  &c.  There  was  something  peculiar  in  this  man  a  ap- 
pearance, lie  had  a  face  the  most  peculiar  I  ever  saw  ;  a  face  once 
seen,  never  to  be  forgotten.  I  saw  from  the  tone  of  his  voice  that  ho 
■was  evidently  a  gentleman  of  culture  and  education.  I  took  him  into 
my  laboratory  to  show  him  the  machine.  He  seemed  pleased  with  it, 
and  wished  mo  to  make  him  a  proposition.  As  the  machine  was  one 
that  I  had  invented  more  as  a  matter  of  pastime  than  for  profit,  with- 
out any  intention  or  thought  of  pt'cuniary  recompense,  I  told  him  that 
I  would  <'ive  him  the  undivided  half  interest  of  the  United  btates  tor 
$500.  He  said  he  would  take  it,  that  he  had  a  brother  who  was  quite 
wealthy,  and  would  assist  him,  and  he  would  get  the  money  when  he 
got  the  model  ready.  I  asked  him  if  he  could  construct  a  model. 
"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  am  a  fine  mechanic  ;"  and  with  the  science  of 
which  he  seemed  thoroughly  conversant. 

We  went  into  my  collection  room,  and  first  came  to  a  case  contain- 
ing marine  shells.  The  shells  had  been  lying  on  cards,  and  some  vis- 
itors who  had  been  examining  them  had  transposed  Uiem.  He  imme- 
diately stopped  and  called  ray  attention  to  the  fact,  saying,  "  Mr. 
Richmond,  that  is  certainly  not  correct.  That  shell  is  not  correctly 
labelled.  That  shell  is  surely  not  Spondylus  Spinosus,  but  is  the  Ar- 
gonauti  Argo."  I  discovered  the  mistake,  perceiving  how  it  had  oc- 
curred. oFcourse  I  was  very  much  astonished  to  find  that  he  should 
knov;  anything  about  them,  but  I  found,  upon  further  conversation, 
that  he  was  perf-'ctly  familiar  v,'ith  the  science  of  conchology,  and 
also  equally  well  acquainted  with  the  science  of  mineralogy.  My  as- 
tonishment increased,  when,  a  little  further  along,  he  picked  up 
the  skull  of  an  Indian  that  had  been  found  on  a  Western  battle  field, 
and  remarked,  "  Ah,  that  man  received  a  terrible  blow  upon  the  right 
parietal  bone.  See,  it  has  fractured  the  temporal  bone  ;"  and  remarked 
further,  "  He  must  have  been  a  man  of  considerable  age,  as  the  lamb- 
doiclal  suture  is  almost  obliterated."  Upon  further  con  versa!  ion  with 
him,  I  found  that  he  was  a  fine  anatomist,  a  science  to  which  I  had  paid 
some  attention.  We  passed  then  to  the  case  of  insects,  and  I  found 
that  he  was  likewise  acquainted  with  the  science  of  entomology,  nam- 
ing the  insects  in  my  collection  as  readily  as  I  could. 

'Bv  this  time  my  surprise  was  unbounded,  as  I  had  had  many  learned 
nienvisit  my  collection,  but  never  found  one  that  seemed  to  under- 
stand so  well  all  the  sciences  connected  with  the  objects  in  my  mil- 
Beura.    Fe  passed  ariund  the  collection  and  repeated  a  quotation  in 


1 


'4 


)d  in  thoiZtf* 

I  wan  sitting 
ain  gannents, 
[1(1.  1  replied 
id  invented  a 
lini;  to  get  an 
Nelson ;  that, 
ted  referencea 
this  man's  ap- 
;  a  face  once 
I  voice  that  ho 
took  him  into 
eased  with  it, 
jhino  was  one 
•r  profit,  witli- 

told  him  that 
ted  States  for 
ivho  was  quite 
oiiey  when  he 
met  a  model. 
Me  science  of 

k  ca«e  contain- 
and  pome  vis- 
n.  He  irame- 
saying,  "  Mr. 
not  correctly 
but  is  the  Ar- 
low  it  had  oc- 
that  he  should 
conversation, 
ichology,  and 
logy.  My  as- 
he  picked  up 
rn  battle- field, 
upon  the  right 
'  and  remarked 
[?,  as  the  lamb- 
versation  with 
lich  I  had  paid 
,s,  and  I  found 
amology,  nam- 

l  many  learned 
ned  to  under- 
lets in  my  mu- 
a  quotation  in 


4 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  $$ 

Latin,  with  which,  by  more  chance,  I  happened  to  bo  fiunillar,  nnd  I 
conJiiiu.d  the  convernation  as  though  he  ha<l  wpokeii  to  mo  in  Kn-'lish 
Then  he  repeatetl  a  sentence  in  GrVek.     I  diHi^overed  that  he  was  v\\. 
dently  trying  to  exhibit  his  best  phases   intellectually,  and  remarked 
to   him  that   it   was   something   unusual    to   find   a   visitor  so    well 
ac<piainted  with  the  Bciencos  and  languages,     lie  then  took  from  his 
pocket  a  certificate  from  the  late  Kev.  Dr.  Barker,  Piesi.lerit  of  Alle- 
gheny  C(.l!ego.    The  certificate  stated  that  ho   had  examined  Mr 
James  Neiso.i  in  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  French,  and  German,  and  that 
he  took  pleasure  in  stating  "  that  he  found  him  one  of  the  he^t  lin-nusts 
It  was  ever  his  pleasure  to  meet."     Nelson  said  that  he  had  obiaine.l 
the  certificate,  as  ho  desired  to  obtain  the  situation  of  primipal  in  some 
school  or  academy.     We  then  passed   into  the   laboratory,  where  we 
bund  oil  a  shelt  some  aoparatus  that  1  had  used  in  the  stomach  of 
Darnel  Drevver,  who  liad  been  poisoned  by  arsenic.     I  found  him  per- 
fectly familiar  with  all  the  tests  for  detecting  poisons,  and  anparentlv 
as  much  so  with  my  galvanic,  electrical,  magnetic,  and  cheiliical  J- 
paratus  as  I  was  myself,  or  even  more  so.  ^ 

I  completed  the  arrangement  with  him  for  the  sale  of  the  ratent 
ana  tol.l  him  that  a  townsman  of  mine,  one  George  Stewart  hlu\  also 
.nvei.ted  a  machine,  and  that  I  did  not  doubt  but  he  couhW^^^^^^^ 
agency  of  that  machine  also.  He  eflfected  an  arrangement  with  Stew- 
ait  and  on  the  next  day  went  to  work  to  construct  a  mo.lel  of  mv 
machine.  1  l.at  evening  when  I  left  my  oflice  I  lefl  him  at  work  in  the 
aboratory,andin  the  morning  when  looking  out,  I  saw  a  light  stiU 
there,  and  when  I  went  in  1  found  him  still  at  work.  He  gave  as  hia 
reason  for  working  all  night,  that  his  eyes  were  weak,  and  hrf  waa 
better  able  to  work  at  night  than  in  the  daylight.  He  had  partirUv 
constructed  a  beautiful  model,  which  was  also  Exquisitely  carved  a  5 
Ty'srufaht        """'^'"^  ''  '^''  "^"^'^  ^''  '"'''^^  ^«^^^'  wm king  al. 


In  going  into  the  laboratory  one  day,  lie  asked  me  if  I  had  an  emerv 

cons  .-ncierln'wf  •     'i'T*^^^  '"'"  ""^.'  ^''^^^'  ^^'  '^^^  was  not  rS  J 
cons  1  icted  and  described  to  me  a  method  of  constructincr 

I  had  heard  was  used  in  the  Auburn  Penitentiary,  in  the    ~ 
tl  J,^''"'''}'^''^}^  ''"".  jocularly,  "Mr.  Nelson,  th 


.ghtly 

.=j  one  which 

the  State  of  New 

they  polij  cutlerv-i;rt^"pS;Sy.  ^W:::Zl'^Lt.r:?l 

a  look  III  '":-^'"*^  T"  '""'^"^  '''«  'y««  fairly  blazed  wi  fire  with 
a  look  like  a  tiger  ready  to  spring  upon  its  victim  as  he  said   "WI  ,1 

tZlVTVj  ""^  "  ""'''  fi«"^»-'^  expression  on  a  hum    :  com  f 

Mm  I7  *^?^'  ^*'^^''  ^^'?  ^"^  informed  me  that  it  would  be  difficult  for 
him  to  get  money,  and  wished  to  know  if  I  would  take  foin-  o  •  fivl 
go  d  watches  as  payment  in  the  place  of  money.  sl^tin.thlrL':.';! 


84 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


u 


C 


in  a  few  days,  but  before  doing  so  wished  to  attend  our  Court  of 
Oyer  and  Terminer,  which  was  to  sit  the  .lext  week,  knowing  that  1 
was  to  defend  a  man  for  murder  during  that  term  of  court.  He  at- 
tfcnded  the  court  and  manifested  an  intense  degree  of  interest  in  that 
trial  for  murder. 

He  asked  me,  then,  if  a  man  could  be  convicted  of  murder  without 
positive  proof  of  what  lawyers  term  the  corpus  delicti,  or  that  the 
murder  had  been  actually  committed,  by  the  actual  finding  of  the 
body  ?  This  was  a  question  in  which  he  seemed  very  much  inter- 
ested. 

A  few  days  after  he  went  away,  as  he  said,  to  see  his  brother,  tak- 
ing with  hira  some  handbills,  which  he  had  got  printed,  advertising 
:.,y  invention  and  that  of  Mr.  Stewart.  He  borrowed  five  dollars  of 
his  landlord,  and  on  the  night  he  left  a  boot  and  shoe  store  near  his 
hotel  was  broken  open  and  some  boots  and  leather  taken  therefrom. 
In  a  day  or  two  his  landlord  received  five  dollars  from  him  by  mail, 
from  a  little  town  in  the  country  a  few  miles  distant,  and  where  we 
ascertained  that  a  man  answering  to  his  description  had  sold  some 
boots  and  leather.  A  few  days  after,  our  postmaster  received  a  letter 
from  Warren  county.  Pa.,  stating  that  a  jewelry  store  had  been  bro- 
ken open,  and  some  watches  taken,  which  were  afterwards  found  con- 
cealed In  a  pile  of  lumber,  with  one  of  those  handbills  wrapped  around 
them.  This  led  to  an  inc^  nry  of  our  postmaster  as  to  whether  two 
men  resided  in  Meadville,  named,  respectively,  A.  B.  llichniond  and 
George  Stewart,  and  inquiring  as  to  their  character  etc.  Mr.  Stewart, 
when  informed  by  the  postmastei  jf  the  circumstances,  was  very 
much  annoyed,  as  he  was  a  most  exemplary  member  of  one  of  our  most 
prominent  churches,  and  I  annoyed  him  still  more  by  informing  hira 
that  there  was  pretty  strong  evidence  against  us  that  we  had  commit- 
ted the  V  urglary.  Mr.  Stewart  recollected  that  Nelson  had  had  his 
photograph  taken  in  this  place,  and  immediately  had  one  printed  and 
sent  down  to  Warren  county,  whence  we  shortly  after  received  infor- 
mation that  .Tames  Nelson  was  the  celebrated  Edward  II.  Kulloff,  who, 
it  was  suspected,  had  murdered  bis  wife  and  child  in  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 


CHAPITER  IX. 

CRIMES   BY  TUB   WAYSIDB. 

The  immeasurable  vanity  of  the  man  had  been  displayed  before  his 
accomplishments  were  paraded  to  the  astonishment  of  Mr.  Richmond, 
and  to  as  little  practical  purpose,  except  its  own  gratification.  As  the 
statement  shows,  Rulloff,  under  sentence  of  death  for  unnatural  murder, 
anu  in  iTnrninent  r-eru  at  every  rrfOtnent  ot  oeing  uiscovercu  anu  ayj- 
prehended  by  the  officers  of  the  law,  approached  Rev.  Dr.  Barker,  then 


by 


our  Court  of 
lowing  that  I 
curt.  He  at- 
iterest  in  that 

urder  without 
(*,  or  that  the 
[iiiclincf  of  the 
■  much  iater- 

i  brother,  tak- 
1,  advertising 
ive  dollars  of 
store  near  his 
en  therefrom, 
him  by  mail, 
lud  where  we 
ad  Bold  some 
leived  a  letter 
lad  been  bro- 
ds  found  con- 
apped  around 

whether  two 
liclnnond  and 

Mr.  Stewart, 
ea,  waa  very 
le  of  our  most 
nforming  hira 
i  had  commit- 
I  had  had  his 
le  printed  and 
?ceived  infor- 

Kulloff,  who, 
aca,  N.  Y. 


^ed  before  his 
tr.  liichmond, 
,tion.  As  the 
itural  murder, 
r'ercu  auu  ap- 
.  Barker,  then 


^ 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


85 


President  of  Allegheny  College,  located  at  Meadville,  under  the  name 
of  James  Nelson,  and  had«o  won  the  admiration  and  (Oiifidence  of  that 
estimable  gentleman,  that  he  was  received,  through  his   instrumen- 
tality, into  the  most  refined  and  distinguished  society  of  Meadville. 
Those  six  or  eight  weeks  during  which  he  was  working  on  the  model" 
in  Mr.  Richmond's  office,  and  was  a  frequent  and  honored  guest  in  the 
houses  of  gentlemen  of  wealth  and  distinction,  where  ho  was  consid- 
ered a  ^^entleman  of  the  highest  honor,  most  brilliant  intellect,  and 
profound  education,  must  have  been  halcyon  days  to  Rulloff,  wlio  was 
for  the  first  and  only  time  in  his  life,  in  the  enjoyment  of  good  repute 
m  learned  society.     Provided  always  that  relentless  Tompkins  County 
did  not  unearth  him,  and  by  a  touch  of  the  magic  wand  of  truth  trans- 
form  the  polished  scholar,  James  Nelson,  into  the  mountebank  mur- 
derer, Edward  H.  Rulloff,  there  seemed  no  bounds  to  the  prosperity 
which  was  opening  before  him.     A  lawyer,  a  physician,  master  of  an- 
cient and  modern  languages,  an  adept  in  the  physical  sciences,  every 
road  of  honor  seemed  open  to  him. 

He  was  modest  in  his  aspirations,  for  he  asked  nothin^r  more  than  a 
professorship  in  Allegheny  College.  There  was  no  vacancy  or  his 
desire  wctild  have  been  instantly  accomplished  ;  and  as  it  was  there 
was  danger  that  some  worthy  man  would  be  removed  to  make  room 
for  him,  so  general  was  the  anxiety  not  to  lose  the  services  of  this  pro- 
digy of  learning.  Fortunately  for  the  College,  Dr.  Barker  happened 
just  at  this  time  to  receive  a  letter  asking  for  a  Professor  for  a  South- 
ern Col  oge  and  the  position,  being  immediately  tendered  to  the  ac- 
complished Mr.  Nelson,  was  accepted  by  him.  Here  was  the  first  op- 
portunity  ev-er  presented  to  liim  of  reputable  and  remunerative  em- 
ployment. He  miproved  it  by  going  off  and  committing  a  bur-larv 
leaving  his  unpnnt,  as  he  always  did,  plainly  upon  his  crime.     '' 

It  was  1.1  January,  1858,  that  he  left  Meadville  to  go  to  his 
brother  for  the  purpose,  as  he  said,  of  procuring  means  to  enable 
him  to  engage  in  vending  the  patent  of  Mr.  Richmond,  and  also 
one  of  Mr.  George  S.  Stewart,  of  Meadville.  for  making  ^a-^on  fel- 
oes.  He  pvobab  y  never  intended  to  -o  South  ;  but  whate^-er  may 
have  been  Ins  pl,,ns,  he  started  away  from  Meadville  carryin<.  a 
satcl.c^l  in  winch  were  a  number  of  handbills  of  both  patents.  The 
tory  of  the  re  bery  of  the  boot  and  shoe  store  has  been  told  by  Mr. 
R.chmond  too  well  to  need  repetition,  and  the  second  crime  only  re- 
mams  to  be  detailed.  The  next  night  after  his  denarf,nr«  f.-^^  Afl.!- 
viile,  the  jewelry  store  of  P.  R.  Bennett,  in  Warren,  Pa:,"was"enter;d 
by  taking  a  panel  from   the   back  door,  an.l  was  robbed  of  every 


86 


THE  MAX  OF  TWO  LTVES. 


■  r 


article  of  valuQit  contained,  including  all  kinds  of  watches,  gold  pens, 
rings,  and  breast-pins,  all  of  wliic'i,  neatly  packed  in  glaas  jars,  wero 
subsequently  found  concealed  under  some  logs  three  miles  from  War- 
ren, and  a  mile  from  the  road  to  Kidgway,  on  which  RuUoff  was 
known  to  have  travelled.  This  was  an  operation  of  which  the  most 
experienced  and  adroit  thief  might  have  been  guilty, but  only  an  incor- 
rigibly stupid  burglar  would  have  left  his  satchel  containing  handbills 
known  to  be  only  in  his  possession  near  the  despoiled  store,  or  would 
have  wiapped  some  of  the  stolen  watches  in  those  same  telltale  post- 
ers. Nor  would  a  sensible  burglar  have  hovered  around  the  scene  of 
his  exploit,  as  he  did  for  some  days,  and  then  left  a  distinct  trace,  as 
he  did  by  going  direct  to  .Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  where  he  went  into  the 
drug  store  of  Dr.  G.  W.  Ilazeltine,  and  wrote  a  prescription  for  a 
frozen  f)Ot  which  he  had  (rompoundiiil.  The  remedy  was  f.T  his  own 
use,  and  the  Warren  burglary  was  far-reaching  in  its  retributiv('  ^'fleets, 
as  the  destruction  of  the  great  toe  on  his  left  foot  by  thu  frost  during 
its  perpetration  was  the  chief  means  of  convicting  him  of  the  murder 
of  Frederick  A.  Mirrick  at  Binghamton,  N.  Y.,  ten  years  and  seven 
months  later. 

While  he  was  in  Jamestown,  he  suddenly  came  face  to  face  with  an 
hostler  employed  at  the  hotel,  who  had  been  a  convict  at  Auburn, 
and  instantly  recognized  him.  He  was  about  to  give  an  exclamation 
of  surprise  in  a  public  place,  and  exposure  would  instantly  have  en- 
sued, when  lluUoff  made  him  a  sign,  which  had  the  effect  of  silencing 
him  for  the  moment,  and  by  mutual  signs  the  two  convicts  procured 
a  private  interview  in  a  barn.  Here  Rulloff  showed  unusual  decision 
by  producing  a  three-barrelled  pistol  of  his  own  invention  and  manu- 
facture, which  would  probably  have  exploded  if  he  had  attempted  to 
fire  it ;  but  it  answered  his  then  purpose  admirably,  as  the  mere  point- 
ing it  at  the  hostler's  head  exacted  from  that  individual  a  promise  not 
to  reveal  the  identity  of  Rulloff  to  any  living  creature.  This  casual 
encounter  with  an  old  friend,  however,  had  the  effect  of  showin<,' 
Rulloflfthe  danger  with  which  he  was  constantly  menaced  while  remain- 
ing so  near  the  scene  of  his  crimes,  and  determining  to  put  a  greater 
distance  between  himself  and  old  associations,  he  turned  westward 
again.  But  lie  liad  delayed  too  long,  and  the  sleuth  hounds  of  Justice 
were  barking  at  his  heels  almost  from  the  moment  of  his  departure 
from  Western  New  York. 


es,  gold  pens, 
aas  jars,  wero 
es  from  War- 
i  lluUoff  was 
hich  the  most 
only  an  inoor- 
linEt  handbills 
ore,  or  would 
3  telltale  post- 
d  the  scone  of 
tiiict  trace,  as 
went  into  the 
cription  for  a 
a,s  for  his  own 
ibut,iv('  <'tiects, 
e  frost  during 
of  the  murder 
irs  and  seven 

0  face  with  an 
ct  at  Auburn, 
n  exclamation 
,ntly  have  en- 
3t  of  silencing 
acts  procured 
lusual  decision 
ion  and  raanu- 

1  attempted  to 
he  mere  point- 
[  a  promise  not 
I.  This  casual 
ct  of  showin<:,' 
I  while  remain- 
)  put  a  greater 
rncd  westward 
mds  of  Justice 

his  departure 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


$7 


CHAPTER  X. 

8AVEDBYAQUIBBLB. 

A  PR0MI3B  exacted  by  a  pistol  is  kept  generally  no  longer  than  to  make 
Bure  th.t  the  disagreeable  weapon  will  not  suddenly  avenge  its  violation 
and  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  hostler,  8ome  little  time  after  this  un-' 
pleasant  interview  in  the  barn,  finding  an  under  Sheriff  of  Chautauqua 
county,  wistfully  reading  one  of  the  hand-bills  offering  a  reward  for  the 
capture  of  EuUoff,  should  inform  that  Sheriff,  John  Dennin,  of  the  late 
presence  of  the  fugitive,  and  give  such  details  as  that  he  wore  moccasins 
on  account  of  a  frozen  foot,  and  had  in  his  possession  a  most  peculiar 
l)istol.     Furnished  with  these  items,  and  incited  by  the  rewards  for  the 
lugitive,  Donnin  started  upon  his  trail,  and  had  no  difficulty  whatever  in 
tracing  him  to  a  small  town  in  the  interior  of  Ohio,  where  he  found  that 
the  man  of  universal  genius  was  teaching  a  countiy  writing-school 
Dennm  went  away  to  Columbus  to  get  a  requisition  from  the  Governor' 
but  meantime  a  farmer,  who  had  overheard  the  indiscreet  officer  boast' 
ing  of  the  money  to  be  made  by  the  operation,  secured  the  services  of  a 
courageous  constable,  and,  calling  upon  Eulloff,  informed  him  that  ho 
was  wanted  for  murder.     He  had  resort  to  his  usual  lame  device  on  such 
I  occasions,  ami  told  them  he  was  not  the  man;  but  they  insisting  that  he 
I  was,  he  hnally  admitted  the  fact,  got  into  the  wagon  and  started  for  the 
f  office  of  a  magistrate  some  miles  distant.     They  had  gone,  however,  but 
a  short  distance,  when  he  changed  his  mind  again,  and  getting  out  of  the 
wagon,  declined  to  go  any  farther,  and  defied  them  to  compel  him,  as 
they  had  no  legal  warrant  whatever  for  their  proceedings.     His  captors, 
of  whom  there  were  five,  followed  him  out  of  the  wagon,  but  with  due 
rliscretion  kept  a  respectful  distance,  and  began  to  pelt  him  with  stones. 
KuUofi   then   proved   to   be    armed,  for   he   drew   a  pistol    and    fired     . 
at  random  a  shot  that  happened  to  trim  the  whiskers  of  one  of  his  as.ail-    \ 
ants  uncomfortably  short.     The  constable  was  provoked  by  this  incident    f 
to  rush  in  upon  the  fugitive  thus  at  bay,  and  thus  making  him.elf  a  spe- 
cial target^  EullolTs  second  shot  penetrating  all  his  clothing,  inflieteS  a 
8.ght  flesh  wound  upon  his  body.     But  as  he  di<l  not  hesitate  in  his 
advance,  EuUoff  then  dropped  his  weapon  and  surrendered.     Without 
further  incident  the  party  rem  hod  the  magistrate,  before  whom  the  con- 
stable made  a  coniplaint  ajrainst  tlio  prisoner  nf  ci,^^*; .>u  .•„x^_.  ._ 

Kill ,  thus,  lor  the  moment  losing  sight  of  the  original  purpose  of  the 

capture  m  the  aggravation  of  this  later  and  more  trivial  offence.     But 

I  suddenly  recollecting  that  Donnin  was  on  the  way  back  with  the  nocea- 


88 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


lillH 


bary  papers  for  the  legal  reuditiou  of  the  prisoner,  he  informed  RulloflF 
of  the  fact  and  proposed  to  hiui  to  go  to  Ithaca  with  him  voluntarily.  It 
is  said  Rulloff  consented  to  this  strange  proposal,  and  if  ho  did,  it  would 
be  no  mora  singular  than  many  events  of  his  life ;  but  lunvever  it  may 
be,  it  is  certain  that  he  was  returned  to  Iihaca  jail,  and  that  Dennin  and 
the  constable  had  the  dispute  usual  in  such  cases  over  the  division  of  the 
reward. 

The  willingness  of  EuUofT  to  return  to  Ithaoa  is  probably  explained 
by  the  fact,  that  he  knew  that  if  he  escaped  mob  violence,  he  was  at  the 
threshold  of  substantial  liberty.  He  had  by  the  power  of  intrigue  and 
illicit  love  forced  his  dungeon  bars  on  the  night  of  the  5th  of  May,  and 
had  ever  since  been  at  large ;  but  the  freedom  thus  gained  was  precarious 
and  he  was  exposed  every  moment  to  bo  seized  by  any  one  to  whom  his 
identity  might  become  known.  While  he  was  thus  at  large,  his  case  hud 
been  taken  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  ho  knew  it  would  be  argued  at 
the  December  term,  1858,  before  Chief  Justice  Alexander  S.  Johnson, 
Judges  George  P.  Comstock,  Samuel  L.  Selden,  and  Hiram  Denio,  with 
Justices  Jas.  J.  Eoosevelt,  Ira  Harris,  Daniel  Pratt,  and  Theron  E.  Strong, 
of  the  Supreme  Court  as  ex-officio  members  It  was  in  fact  so  argued, 
the  point  involved  was  exhaustively  examined,  and  the  opin  on  of  the 
Court  delivered  by  the  Chief  Justice,  who  discussed  the  question  at  great 
length,  but  the  syllabus  of  the  decision  was: — 

*'  To  warrant  a  conviction  of  murder  there  must  be  direct  proof  of  the 
death,  as  by  the  finding  and  identification  of  the  corpse,  or  of  criminal 
violence  adequate  to  produce  death,  and  exerted  iu  such  manner  as  to 
account  for  the  disappearance  of  the  body. 

"  The  corpus  delicti  in  murder  has  two  components ;  death  as  the  result 
and  criminal  agency  of  another.  It  is  only  where  there  is  direct  proof 
of  the  one  that  the  other  can  be  established  by  circumstantial  evidence. 

**  The  rule  of  Lord  Hale,  forbidding  a  conviction  of  murder,  or  man- 
elaughter,  unless  the  fact  be  proved  to  be  done,  or  at  least  the  body  found 
dead,  affirmed." 

In  concluding  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  Chief  Justice  Johnson  said : 
"The  rule  is  not  founded  in  a  denial  of  the  force  of  circumstantial  evi- 
dence, but  in  the  danger  of  allowing  any  but  unequivocal  and  certain 
proof  that  some  one  is  dead,  to  bo  the  ground  on  which,  by  the  interpre- 
tation of  circumstances  of  suspicion,  an  accused  person  is  to  bo  convicted 
of  murder."  With  only  Justice  Eoosevelt  dissenting,  the  Court  reversed 
tho  ju!lgmf>nt  below,  and  ord<>red  n  new  trin,!. 

This  decision,  which  is  fully  printed  in  4tli  Smith's  New  York  Eoports, 
n-as  undoubtedly  anticipated  by  Eulloff,  before  his  enforced  return  to 
Tthacu,  and  there  is  as  little  doubt  that  he  was  as  fully  aware  of  what 


formed  RulloflF 
/oluntarily.  It 
10  did,  it  would 
[lowever  it  may 
lat  Dennin  and 
)  division  of  the 

ably  explained 
,  he  was  at  the 
af  intrigue  and 
;h  of  May,  and 
was  precarious 
le  to  whom  his 
^e,  his  case  hud 
d  be  argued  at 
[er  S.  Johnson, 
im.  Denio,  with 
Bron  R.  Strong, 
fact  so  argued, 
opin  on  of  the 
lostion  at  great 

ct  proof  of  the 

or  of  criminal 

1  manner  as  to 

;h  as  the  result 
is  direct  proof 
itial  evidence, 
lurder,  or  man- 
ihe  body  found 

Johnson  said: 
umstantial  evi- 
;al  and  certain 
•y  the  interpre- 
to  bo  convicted 
Court  reversed 

York  Reports, 
irced  return  to 
aware  of  what 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


89 


would  be  its  legal  effect.     He  tlierefore  knew  that  while  it  was  possible 
lie  migiit  be  again  put  upon  trial  for  his  life,  with  the  law  thus  estab- 
lished by  the  highest  tribunal  of  the  State,  there  was  not  the  least  possi- 
bility of  a  conviction.     He  may,  and  most  probably  did,  anticipate  that 
the  District  Attorney  being  also  fully  informed  of  this  fact,  would  de- 
cline to  put  himself  to  the  trouble,  and  the  people  to  the  exjiense  of  a 
second  trial,  the  inevitable  result  of  which  would  be  an  acquittal,  without 
the  case  oven  going  to  the  jury.     This  was  in  fact  the  course  forced  upon 
the  authorities  by  the  decision ;  and  although  not  much  of  a  lawyer,  he 
was  enough  of  one  to  know  that   he  incurred  no  risk  of  suffering  any 
further  penalties  by  surrendering  himself  into  the  hands  of  the  Tomp- 
kins county  jailer.     His  later  and  lesser  crimes  of  burglary  and  larceny 
at  Warren  and  Meadville,  Pa.,  miglit  demand  th  3  forfeiture  of  his  liberty 
for  a  time,  but  liis  neck  was  again  in  his  own  keeping.     After  a  struggle 
of  thirteen  years,  with  a  whole  people  determined  to  omit  no  lawful  means 
to  wrost  from  him  a  life  they  were  convinced  he  had  forfeited  by  his  foul 
deeds,  he  had  triumphed  by  what  the  people  in  their  wrath  declared  was 
a  technicality  of  the  law,  but  in  fact,  by  his  own  shallow  cunning  in  the 
disposal  of  the  bodies  of  his  victims,  and  by  the  trustfulness  of  the  peo- 
ple about  him  in  human  nature.     Had  any  one  of  his  neighbors  imagined 
at  the  time,  that  crimes  so  foul  as  his  could  be  committed  by  any  human 
being,  no  earthly  power  could  have  saved  Edward  H.  EuLoii'  iium  ttie 
gallows  in  1845. 


4 


CHAPTER  XL 

TWO   DANGERS   PASS^ED. 

Bur  while  the  law  no  longer  had  terrors  for  this  man  of  ineffable  wick- 
edness,  there  was  a  power  above  the  law  more  hostile  to  him  than  any 
Criminal  Act,  and  of  which  ho  was  in  mortal  dread.  That  power  was 
the  people  acting  in  the  primitive  capacity  of  a  mob,  and  that  he  knew 
of  the  feeling  against  him,  as  well  as  the  danger  that  it  would  be  actively 
employed,  is  amply  shown  by  his  stipulations  that  he  should  be  piivately 
delivered  to  tlie  Sheriff  of  Ithaca.  Even  hie  effrontery  did  not  wi-h,  on 
this  second  return,  to  brave  the  populace  by  walking  through  the  streets, 
an<l  the  event  proved  that  his  discretion  was  born  nf  wisdom.  He  was 
secretly  delivered  to  the  Sheriff,  and  being  once  more  safely  immured  in 
Ithaca  jail,  supposed  that  there  he  could  securely  await  his  deliverance 
by  due  process  of  law. 

The  people  of  Tompkina  had  been  tried  beyond  human  endurance. 


40 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


A-fter  a  struggle  of  fifteen  years  they  saw  this  monster  they  had  vainly 
Bought  to  throttte,  slipping  from  their  grasp,  and  about  to  fro  free  to  work 
wickedness  wherever  he  should  choose.  They  knew  liim  to  be  utterly 
without  truth,  and  thoy  sincerely  believed  that  lie  was  Satan  incarnated 
upon  earth.  In  looking  back  over  his  history,  eo  fa»  as  they  knew  it,  they 
saw  only  falsehood,  brutality,  and  a  fiendish  ..  .'nrnity  ♦V.p.L  had  spent 
itself  upon  a  woman  and  a  babe  that  he  wa^  by  every  instinct  of 

humanity  to  cherish  and  defend.  And  his  deeu  *  3re  scarcely  more  irri- 
tating to  an  honest  nature  than  his  assumptions  of  innocence  in  attempt- 
ing to  evade  their  consequences.  This  stranger  had  come  among  them 
to  destroy  the  peace  of  one  of  their  most  esteemed  fannlies,  to  murder  by 
wholesale,  and  then,  without  ever  caring  to  deny  his  guilt,  to  cunningly 
seize  every  quibble  of  the  law  to  escape  the  penalty  of  his  crimen.  They 
were  ready  to  admit  that  mob  violence  is  never  justifiable,  but  they  be- 
lieved that  their  great  provocation  would  make  it  excusable,  at  least. 

It  was  entirely  natural  that  as  soon  as  EuUoff  was  again  in  Ithaca  jail, 
as  a  preliminary  to  his  final  discharge,  that  there  should  be  a  meeting 
secretly  held,  at  which  many  of  the  most  prominent  and  respectable  citi- 
aens  of  the  county  Avere  present,  and  at  which  it  was  fully  determined, 
after  a  grave  consideration  of  all  the  facts,  to  take  t'ae  prisoner  from  the 
hands  of  the  feeble  law  and  hang  him  as  a  monster  unfit  to  live.  There 
was  no  personal  malice  in  this  resolve,  for  it  is  due  to  the  Schult  family 
to  say,  that  this  meeting  was  held  without  their  knowledge,  and  that  no 
one  of  them  had  a  suspicion  that  such  action  was  in  contemplation.  It 
is  not  necessary  after  this  lapse  of  time,  to  name  those  who  were  present 
at  that  meeting,  many  of  whom  are  yet  living,  and  no  one  of  whom  looks 
back  to  that  incident  except  to  regret  that  the  project  was  a  failure ;  for 
it  happened  that  the  Sheriff  became  apprised  of  the  movemcyit,  and 
knowing  perfectly  woU  that  once  under  way  nothing  could  prevent  its 
success,  he  hurried  his  prisoner  off  to  Auburn  prison,  where  he  was  secure 
Irom  any  possible  mob  violence. 

The  next  day,  March  19th,  1859,  was  the  most  memorable  and  exciting 
Ithaca  has  ever  seen.  The  removal  of  the  prisoner  becoming  known, 
tlie  cause  was  divined  and  the  purpose  of  the  few  became  that  of  tlie 
entire  people.  Moved  by  an  impulse  common  to  all,  the  whole  populace 
gathered  around  the  j  lil  and  aliuost  howled  in  the  rage  of  disappointment 
when  it  became  certain  that  RuUoff  had  been  removed.  Old  residents  of 
the  peaceful  town  remember  with  a  feeling  of  awe  the  awful  exhibition 
of  popular  wrath  evoked  that  morning  by  the  final  escape  of  tha  fiend 
who  had  left  the  stain  of  unnatural  murder  upon  their  soil.  But  it  was 
creditable  to  this  mob  that  when  convinced  that  Eulloff  was  actually  gone. 
Off  violence  what  ver  was  committed  upon  any  person  or  thing.    The  jail 


,1 

n 


Ley  had  vainly 
o  free  to  work 

to  be  utterly 
an  incarnated 
f  knew  it,  they 
if.L  had  spent 
ery  instinct  of 
oely  more  irri- 
ce  in  attompt- 
j  among  them 

to  murder  by 
;,  to  cunningly 
crimen.  They 
,  but  tliey  be- 
3,  at  least. 

in  Ithaca  jail, 

be  a  meeting 
38p«ctuble  citi- 
ly  determined, 
soner  from  the 
;o  live.     There 

Schult  family 
9,  and  that  no 
omplation.     It 

0  were  present 
of  whom  looks 
3  a  failure ;  for 
lovemcyit,  and 
xld  prevent  its 

1  he  was  secure 

le  and  exciting 
oniing  known, 
ne  thcit  of  tlie 
ivhole  populace 
disappointment 
)ld  residents  of 
wful  exhibition 


30 


of  tl 


10  iioud 


il.  But  it  was 
9  actually  gone, 
liing.    The  jail 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


41 


was  not  disturbed,  and  even  the  most  violent  in  the  excited  multitude, 
readily  acknowledged  that  the  Sheriff  had  done  nothing  more  than  hia 
duty. 

There  was  yet  a  hope  that  justice  might  be  done  by  the  law  itself.     It 

will  be  remembered  that  Mrs.  William  11.  Schutt  and  her  infant  child 

had  suddenly  died  on  the  3d  and  5th  of  June,  1845,  while  being  attended 

by  Eulloff  as  a  physician,  and  that  the  body  of  the  former  being  exhumed 

thirteen  years  later,  portions  of  the  stomach  had  been  sent  to  Professor 

E.  Ogden  Doremus,  for  analysis.     The  people  knew  these  facts,  and  not 

unnaturally  supposed  that  here  was  a  case  where  the  guilt  of  Eulloff  was 

undeniable,  and  one  which  would  not  fail  for  want  of  the  corpus  delicti. 

Why  this  just  popular  expectation  was  disappointed  by  the  omission  to 

bring  Eulloff  to  trial  for  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Schutt  can  only  be  inferred 

from  the  facts  now  to  be  stated. 

It  is  not  possible  at  this  date,  and  after  the  lapse  of  twenty-six  years 
since  the  murder,  and  thirteen  years  since  the  analysis,  to  give  the  public 
the  full  report  of  Professor  Doremus,  which  would  not  only  have  inten«e 
popular  interest,  bi      ,vould  be  of  great  value  to  medical  jurisprudence. 
Professor  Doremus  kept  no  copy  of  his  report,  and  having  failed  in  tlio 
limited  time  permitted  by  the  circumstances  to  find  even  his  memoranda 
of  the  case,  he  was  able  to  furnish  the  writer  only  with  its  general  features 
as  they  live  in  his  memory.    That  he  was  able  to  do  even  this  was  duo  to 
a  most  singular  and  interesting  coincidence.     The  public  remi  mbers  the 
Stevens  murder  case  in  its  outline,  but  Professor  Doremus  has  a  vivid  re- 
collection of  all  its  details.     He  made  an  analysis  in  that  case  after  the 
body  had  been  buried  a  year,  and  to  more  clearly  explain  his  discoveries 
to  the  jury,  he  prepared  a  number  of  colored  plates  showing  the  appear- 
ance of  the  stomach  in  health  and  after  being  affected  by  the  poison. 
When  he  had  given  his  direct  evidence  he  was  harried  in  the  usual  man- 
ner upon  cross-examination  by  the  counsel  for  die  prisoner,  who  ridiculed 
the  idea  of  tracing  poison  in  a  body  buried  for  that  length  of  time,  and 
was  e.«pecially  indignanl  at  what  he  was  pleased  to  term  the  attempt  to 
hang  his  client  with  "a  lot  of  penny  pictures."     Exhausted  and  irritated 
by  these  experiences,  to  which  he  was  then  somewhat  of  a  stranger,  Pro- 
fessor Duromus  on  the  evening  of  that  day  was  at  home  in  no  very  envi- 
able mood,  when  professional  visitors  were  ushered  in,  and  he  was  sur- 
prised to  see  the  counsel  for  Stevens,  accompanied  by  a  stranger.     But 
when  the  former  introduced  the  other  as  the  District  Attorney  of  Tomp- 
liins  county,  and  declared  the  purnoao  of  the  visit  was  tis  eng.a^e  liim  to 
make  an  analysis  of  the  stomach  of,  a  woman  then  tliirteen  years  dead, 
who  was  supi  033d  to  have  been  murdered  by  poison,  his  astonishment  was 
without  bounds. 


'3 


42 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 


"Why,  sir,"  exclaimed  the  Professor,  "you  ridiculed  me  to-day  be- 
cause I  declared  I  could  discover  the  presence  of  poison  in  a  body  buried 
lor  a  year.  How  do  you  su^ipose  I  can  find  it  in  one  thirteen  years 
under  ground?" 

*'  Then,"  answered  the  lawyer,  **I  was  doing  my  duty  as  an  advocate,, 
and  now  as  a  citizen  anxious  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  ferret  out  what  I 
believe  to  be  a  most  despicable  criiue,  I  believe  it  is  your  duty  to  un- 
dertake this  case,  and  that  the  ends  of  justice  will  be  served  by  your  so 
doing." 

Under  these  circumstances  Professor  Doremus  undertook  the  analysis 
of  the  remains  of  Mrs.  Schutt,  and  gave  the  case  the  full  benefit  of  his 
perfect  mastery  of  analytical  chemistry.     But  owing  to  the  laches  of  the 
Tompkins  county  authorities,  the  result  was  not  wholly  satisfa^.tory  to 
any  one,  except  perhaps  to  EuUoff.     Professor  Doremus  was  furnished 
only  with  some  of  the  tissues  of  the  stomach,  and  finding  in  these  strong 
traces  of  copper,  he  had  made  the  discovery  that  the  woman  might  have 
been  poisoned  by  some  one  having  even  a  general  and  superficial  knowl- 
edge of  drugs,  as  the  preparations  of  copper  are  among  the  most  common 
of  poisons,  and  might  easily  be  administered  in  any  one  of  three  forms. 
But  it  was  also  possible,  he  reported,  but  highly  improbable,  that  this  cop- 
per might  have  been  absorbed  by  these  tissues  after  death,  and  owing  to 
the  imperfect  materials  furnished  him  for  the  analysis,  he  was  unable  to 
decide  the  point  positively.     It  might  be  that  the  cofiin  in  which  the  body 
had  lain  for  so  many  years  had  been  so  thickly  studded  with  copper  naila 
as  to  fully  account  for  all  ot  the  poison,  or  even  more,  that  he  found  in 
the  tissues.     But  no  part  of  the  coffin  was  furnished  him,  nor  was  there 
any  evidence  of  the  materials  of  which  it  had  been  made,  and  as  the  ex- 
humation had  been  so  carelessly  managed  that  the  cofiin  had  been  wholly 
destroyed,  all   positive   testimony  on   this  vital   point  was   irrevocably 
lost. 

Thus  Edward  H.  EulloflF  again  escaped,  not  by  his  own  dextority  in 
obliterating  the  proofs  of  his  otfences,  but  by  the  fact  that  the  people 
among  whom  he  lived,  became  conscious  too  late,  that  human  nature  was 
capable  of  such  crimes  as  his.  Twice  his  total  depravity  had  saved  him, 
and  his  career  in  Tompkins  coUnty  was  at  last  ended.  The  long  agony 
was  over,  and  the  baffled  District  Attorney  abandoning  all  prosecutions 
against  him,  EuUoff  was  handed  over  to  the  Pennsylvania  authorities  to 
be  tried  for  his  burglary  at  Warren.  But  in  this  case,  fate  again  befi-iended 
him,  and  after  an  imprisonment  for  some  months  he  was  discharged  with- 
out ever  having  been  brought  to  trial,  it  is  difficult  to  say  why  this  course 
was  adopted,  for  the  proofs  against  him  seemed  sufficiently  clear,  but  it 
was  undoubtedly  the  fact,  for  after  a  brief  imprisonment  he  slunk  away 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


to-day  be- 
body  buried 
iteeu  years 

m  advocate,. 

out  what  I 
luty  to  un- 

by  your  bo 

he  analysis 
TLti&t  of  his 
jhes  of  the 
iisfa".tory  to 
3  furnished 
hese  strong 
might  have 
cial  knowl- 
ist  common 
uree  forms. 
at  this  cop- 
d  owing  to 
3  unable  to 
jh  the  body 
opper  nails 
le  found  in 
•  was  there 
as  the  ex- 
oen  wholly 
Trevocably 

3xtority  in 
the  people 
lature  was 
saved  him, 
oiig  agony 
:osecutions 
thorities  to 
befi-iended 
rged  with- 
this  course 
lear,  but  it 
iunk  away 


43 


free  from  all  the  meshes  of  the  law,  and  was  lost  in  that  oblivion  any 
one,  however  great  in  honor  or  infamy,  can  obtain  by  the  mere  seeking 
in  the  great  metropolis  of  the  nation. 


CHAPTEE  XI. 


A  TBINITY  OF  CBIMB. 


Hitherto,  Eulloff  had  been  in  many  respects  a  remarkable  criminal ;' 
but  henceforth  he  was  to  be  a  petty  thief  and  a  bungling  burglar.  The 
narrative  has  now  reached  a  period  of  his  life,  when  only  occsaional 
glimpses  of  his  career  can  be  obtained,  and  no  pretence  is  made  that  the 
record  is  complete.  So  far  as  it  is  given,  it  is  authentic ;  and  there  is 
enough,  fortunately,  to  stamp  this  man  of  vast  pretence  as  a  chariatan  in 
crime,  no  less  than  in  learning;  and  great  only  in  his  immeasurable  sel- 
tishness,  vanity,  and  depravity. 

From  the  time  of  his  discharge  at  Erie,  Pennsylvania,  until  the  fall  of 
1861,  his  proceedings  are  known  only  to  himself;  but  the  general  tenor 
of  his  life  can  be  guessed  from  the  fact,  that  at  that  time  he  entered  Sing 
Sing  prison  as  a  convict,  and  served  two  years  and  six  months  under  the 
name  of  James  H.  Kerron  lor  the  crime  of  burglary  in  the  third  degree, 
committed  in  Dutchess  county,  having  been  sentenced  by  Judge  Nelson^ 
at  Poughkeepsie,  on  the  20th  day  of  November,  1861.     He  was  known 
among  his  fellew-convicts  as  "  Big  Jim,"  and  was  the  object  of  constant 
raillery,  because  he  had  given  his  age  as  twenty-one,  when  his  appear- 
ance showed  twice  that  number  of  years.     But  he  was  highly  esteemed 
among  the  prison  officials  for  his  aptitude  in  several  branches  of  skilled 
labor,  but  more  especially  for  his  chirographic  accomplishments.     For 
this  reason  he  was  made  book-keeper  of  the  cabinet  shop  of  the  prison, 
and  the  accounts  of  that  department  during  the  period  of  his  incumbency, 
looking  more  like  copper-plate  engraving  than  penmanship,  remain  as 
striking  proofs  of  his  marvellous  accuracy  and  neatness.     These  books 
being  the  pride  of  the  prison,  he  is  remembered  by  the  officials  as  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  and  useful  convicts  ever  in  their  charge. 

He  always  boasted  that  he  had  so  entirely  concealed  his  identity— prob- 
ably having  in  mind  the  lame  device  as  to  his  age — that  his  presence  in 
Sing  Sing  would  never  be  known ;  and  it  was  tolerably  well  founded,  for 
the  writer  had  much  difficulty  in  unearthing  him  from  the  records  'and 
traditions  of  the  prison.  But  the  fact  that  he  was  there  under  the  con- 
ditions stated,  was  satisfactorily  established.    It  is  also  known  that  while 


44 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


m 


there,  he  mnAe  the  acquaintance,  and  won  the  confidence  of  a  poor, 
ilJiterate  convict,  named  Wni.  T.  Dexter,  but  serving  under  the  name  of 
Win.  I).  Thornton,  for  a  burglary  committed  in  the  Bowery,  Now  York. 
KuUoff  WU8  book-keeper  of  the  cabinet  nhop,  and  Dexter  being  employed 
in  thttt  department,  tiie  two  convicts  were  brought  into  a  companionship 
which  was  to  continu-^  with  the  wrecked  Albert  T.  Jarvia  joined  in  the 
trinity  of  crime,  until  the  two  youthful  disciples  should  stop  from  their 
last  dreadful  deed  to  a  horrible  death  in  the  Chenango,  and  their  mentor 
only  survive  to  expiate  upon  the  gallows  his  thirty-three  years  of  warfare 
upon  society. 

In  all  criminal  annals  there  is  no  more  romantic  and  singular  trinity 
than  that  first  completed  in  Sing  Sing  prison.     Separated  at  times  by  the 
imprisonment  first  of  one  and  then  of  another,  RuUoff,  Jarvis  and  Dextei* 
always  came  together  again  when  the  sentences  had  ex[)irod,  and  always 
to  renew  their  depredations  upon  mankind.     The  fellowship  of  RuUoflF 
aud  Jarvis,  beginning  in  1857,  and  the  truimvirate  being  completed  by 
the  addition  of  Dexter  in  18G2,  it  remained  thence  forward  unbroken. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  that  either  of  those  men  ever  attempt- 
ed to  betray  either  of  the  others,  or  that  their  companionship  was  ever 
disturbed  by  even  a  trivial  quarrel,  and  yet  no  three  men  could  have 
eti-onger  points  of  contrast.    Jarvis  and  Doxter  were  indeed  alike  in  yeura, 
being  young  men  under  twenty-five  in  1864,  but  this  was  the  only  thing 
they  had  in  common.    Jarvis  was  a  youth  of  rare  personal  beauty,  of 
eingularly  soft  and  pleasant  manner,  of  studious  and  retiring  disposition, 
of  considerable  mental  capacity,  fair  literary  attainments,  and  honest  in 
his  instincts.     Dexter,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not  agreeable  in  person  or 
manners,  was  rough,  uncouth,  almost  without  mind,  lacking  even  rudi- 
mentary education,  and  a  thief  by  nature.     Those  two  young  men,  dijffer- 
ing  in  all  tilings  else,  vied  with  each  other  in  their  veneration  of  and  faith 
in  their  master,  EuUoff,  a  man  twice  their  age,  who  used  them  so  plainly 
for  his  own  purposes  that  it  is  probable  even  their  prejudiced  perceptions 
could  not  disguise  the  fact.     Here,  as  always,  he  used  his  erudition  to  no 
better  purpose  than  to  obtaiu  him  the  means  of  scanty  and  infamous  sub- 
sistence, for  incited  by  his  promises  of  what  he  was  to  do  for  them  in  the 
future  by  means  of  his  accomplishments,  these  two  youths  went  on  year 
after  year,  steaUng  just  enough  to  keep  body  and  soul  together,  and  mean- 
time buoyed  with  the  hope  of  that  "good  time  coming,"  when  the  world 
was  to  fall  down  and  worship  RuUoff  as  the  ircarnation  of  earth!  knowl- 
edge, and  they  were  all  to  be  rich  forevermore. 

^  Thus  strangely  composed  and  feeding  on  such  hopes  as  these,  it  is  not 
singular  that  this  triumvirate  made  no  affiliations  with  other  criminals, 
which  it  is  absolutely  certain  they  never  did.    Living  in  or  near  New 


of  a  poor, 
lie  name  of 
Now  York. 
g  employed 
panionship 
ined  in  the 
from  their 
leir  mentor 
of  warfare 

iilar  trinity 
raes  by  the 
lud  Dexter 
md  always 
of  EuUoflP 
npleted  by 
unbroken, 
r  attempt- 
I  was  ever 
!0uld  have 
e  in  years, 
only  thing 
beauty,  of 
isposition, 
honest  ia 
person  or 
>ven  rudi- 
lon,  differ- 
■  and  faith 
so  plainly 
srceptions 
tion  to  no 
nous  sub- 
em  in  the 
t  on  year 
nd  mean* 
the  world 
1   knowl- 


DETECTIVE  PHIL.  REILLEY. 


,  it  is  not 
sriminals, 
ear  New 


i't 


I 


THB  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVBS. 


45 

York  continuously  from  mi  to  August  15,  1870,  aud  constantly  en- 
gagod  m  burglanos  or  larounies.  yet  they  wore  utterly  unknown  to  the 
police,  and  except  by  reputation,  to  all  other  professional  thieves:  but  the 
apparent  anomaly  i.  sunceptible  of  easy  explanation.     They  n.  xr  lera 
found  m  the  usual  h  u.nts  of  criminals,  tJiey  were  shrewd  enough   o  dTs! 
pose  of  thotr  stolen  property  to  some  one  who  was  not  known  as  a  pn  . 
f^sional  receiver,  but  more  than  all,  they  nevor-with  possibly  one  C 
nble  exception,  to  be  hereafter  noted-committed  a  Jme  in  or  L  th- 
immediate  vicinity  of  New  York  city.     Actuated  by  motive,  of  ^  ude^ee 
rather  than  a  desire   o  illustrate  the  proverb  that  "It  is  a  vile  bird  wWch 
fouls  Its  own  nest,"  they  always  went  to  a  distance  to  commi  thrd«nl 
dations,  and  generally  selected  Western  New  York      IntheuZ  n7 

r; zT ■' '"J- T v'^ T'"^  *^  '""^^  *^--  with  all';  tugr"; 

and  robberies  which  have  been  perpetrated  anywhere  in  thaTKr, 
during  the  past  half  dozen  years. "3  they  were'I^  n  Ty  Z'Tf 
these  cases.     It  was  their  habit  to  never  en^aire  in  nd  lr,J     -  .. 

driven  by  actual  want.     They  lived  who  ly  by  !telL7b„t  ^^^^^^^^^^  T'" 

wan  8.  They  had  no  ambition  to  accumulate  by  theft,  for  Rulloff  J„, 
contmiially  proclaiming  the  good  time  nearer  when  tl  s  derni  1^^^^^ 
r     I^'^TW'  ''''  *^.7-'^«:^P^y-al  life  auppliedt  alfern^ 

o?nf«  Z;  -f  7  "°  ''^''^'"'^  *^"*  ^"  ^«^*  '^"y  repugnance  ta  his  war 
of  life,  and  it  is  almost  certain  he  never  expressed  any  excont  tTth^Z^ 

ZtlTfl'  of  punishment  if  detected,  b'ut  it  is  aWst  e\l  J^^^^^^^^^^ 
that  he  had  by  this  time  really  become  infatuated  with  his  mentXower. 
and  had  recourse  to  thieving  only  as  a  make-shift  for  therme„nnt.'; 

Tw^  .1  ?^  ''"?""'  "°^  '^^^^  h^«  acquisitions.  lU  ato  true 
however,  tb^t  he  continued  to  filch  his  living  for  v«,«  ««         .!         .    ' 

to  earn  a  aollar  by  honest  labor,  and  never  !n«  ZlTJimZl' 
beginning  of  1868,  even  making  a  pretenc^  of  havLVlny  defini^^^^^^^^ 
which  being  attained  hie  dreams  would  be  realities  "^  '°^'^'^"^*"  ""^^''^ 
But  bis  two  disciples,  unable  to  comprehend  how  utter  was  hi-  shallow 
ness  and  selfishness,  still  believed  in  him  s^ole  for  h  m     1  ^'!.'''''"7" 
not  often,  with  him-and  thus  the  two^t^^^^VrruTyTars  o^f 
misery  and  infamy,  of  which  the  tale  must  bftold  as  far  a«t  h^T  ^ 


49 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIYEa 


CHAPTKR  XIII. 


YEAB8   OF    OROVELINO. 

That  the  life,  even  in  outline,  of  this  extraordinary  criminal,  can  be 
given  from  the  date  of  his  discharge  from  Sing  Sing  in  tlie  Spring  of 
18G'i,  until  his  arrest  at  Binghamton  in  August,  1^70,  is  duo,  first  to  the 
fact  that  Broome  county  is  so  fortunate  as  to  have  in  Hon.  P.  W.  Hop- 
kins, a  District  Attorney  of  great  ability,  untiring  energy  and  resolute 
determination,  to  exhaust  both  himself  and  the  law,  rather  than  permit 
crime  to  go  unpunished.  '^Text,  it  is  due  to  the  skill  and  industry  as  po- 
licemen of  Capt.  Henry  Heddeu  and  officer  Philip  Reilley,  of  the  15th 
Precinct,  New  York  city,  who  by  the  uncertain  light  of  limited  informa- 
tion, led  Mr.  Hopkins  along  the  twisting  and  buried  paths  of  outcast  lives, 
to  the  complete  establishment  of  a  conspiracy  to  do  burglary  and  murder 
by  three  men,  before  unknown,  both  to  metropolitan  detectives,  and,  ex- 
cept by  reputation,  to  metropolitan  criminals.  Thus  gathered,  these  facta 
are  precious,  and  Jarvis  and  Dexter  being  dead,  they  are  all  that  can  ever 
be  known  of  these  years,  unless,  which  is  highly  improbable,  Eulloff  him- 
self should  come  forward  and  furnish  the  world  with  the  details  of  all  his 
infamies. 

"Without  any  information  from  him,  it  is  certainly  known  that  the  time 
of  Doxter  first  expiring  at  Sing  Sing,  he  announced  when  he  arrived  at 
home,  that  he  had  a  friend  who  was  book-keeper  of  the  cabinet  shop  of 
the  prison,  whose  time  would  soon  be  out,  and  Avhen  it  was  he  was  to  make 
a  visit  to  the  house  of  Dexter,  at  No.  10  Graham  Street,  Brooklyn,  E.  D. 
The  friend,  who  was  Eulloff,  but  who  was  to  be  known  at  that  house  as 
Jim  Howard,  was  even  better  than  his  word,  for  his  visit  extended  into  a 
residence  of  many  months.  The  house,  which  was  little  better  than  a 
barn,  belonged  to  Dexter  in  common  with  his  mother  and  brother  John, 
and  the  family  being  wretchedly  poor,  living  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
house,  rented  out  the  two  upper  floors  as  a  means  of  adding  to  the  income 
of  the  owners  of  the  tenement.  Into  this  family  and  to  this  squalor, 
liuUoff  came  without  bringing  a  dollar  to  its  aid,  and  made  only  the 
shallowest  pretence  of  doing  anything  for  his  own  support.  True  to  him- 
self, he  was  of  course  penniless,  and  nothing  was  further  from  his  thoughts 
than  to  go  out  into  the  world  and  wring  a  decent  support  from  it  by 
honest  labor.  His  first  device  for  imposing  upon  himself  ai  '  others  a 
belief  that  he  was  doing  something  useful,  was  an  attempt  to  color  photo- 
graphs by  a  new  process,  which  was  of  course  his  owil  invention,  and 


inal,  can  be 
e  Spring  of 
,  first  to  the 
P.  W.  Hop. 
ind  resolute 
than  permit 
ustry  as  po- 
of the  15th 
;ed  informa- 
)utca8t  lives, 
and  murder 
'63,  and,  ex- 
i,  these  facta 
liat  can  ever 
RuUoff  him- 
ils  of  all  his 

liat  the  time 
e  arrived  at 
inet  shop  of 
was  to  make 
)klyu,  E.  D. 
lat  house  as 
snded  into  a 
3tter  than  a 
rothor  John, 
part  of  the 
0  the  income 
his  squalor, 
ide  only  the 
Frue  to  him- 
his  thoughts 
from  it  by 
L '  others  a 
color  photo- 
v^ention,  and 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  47 

was  to  make  his  fortune.  But  only  a  very  few  days  were  sufficient  to 
sliow  others,  if  not  himself,  that  he  was  a  charlatan  at  this,  ps  all  else 
and  after  he  had  spoiled  all  the  photographs  he  could  beg,  borrow  or 
pilfer  a  sister  of  Dexter  threw  his  paints  into  the  yard,  where  they  were 
picked  up  and  devoured  by  the  chicken^  of  a  German  livin.  next  door 
and  poisoned  them  all,  to  the  great  dismay  and  anger  of  that  thrifty 
person.  ^ 

T;  3  next  exploit  of  this  man,  who  was  living  with  a  high  object,  was 
more  creditable  to  his  business  acumen,  as  it  consisted  in  seUing  both  John 
Dexter  and  Wm.  T.  Dexter  into  the  Army  of  the  Eepublic,  which  was 
then  on  tne  eve  of  its  complete  triumph  over  armed  treason.     As  that 

hat  RuUoff  made  something  by  the  operation,  and  there  is  no  doubt  he 
kept  the  affair  entirely  in  his  own  hands,  as  the  discharge  papers  of  both 
the  recruits  were  found  in  his  desk  when  its  contents  were  seized  by  n^pt 
Hedden  six  years  later.  With  this  incident  of  the  enhstment  and  thai 
of  the  poisoned  chickens  the  history  of  1864  is  completed,  so  far  as  it  is 
positively  knou'n,  but  it  is  almost  certain  that  Eulloff  and  Jarvis  were  en- 
gaged  during  that  time  in  several  burglaries.  In  the  spring  of  1SG5  as 
the  Nahon  joyiully  remembers,  "Johnnie  came  marohing\ome,"  nd 
among  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  changed  as  if  by  magi;  from 
armed  soldiers  into  citizens,  were  the  two  Dexters.  John  went  back  to 
his  trade  as  a  lather,  and  WiUiam  naturally  took  to  thieving 

This  was  the  most  forlorn  period  in  the  lives  of  these  outlaws,  and  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  believe  the  utter  abjectness  to  which  RuUoff,  the 
man  of  great  education  and  unlimited  resources,  was  at  this  time  reduced. 
He  was  usually  hungry  and  naked,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for 
him  and  Dext.r,  m  the  fall  of  that  year,  to  go  out  at  night  provided  lith 
bags,  and  return   towards   morning   with   these   bags   filled   with   po- 

bus  obtamed,  fue  was  procured  in  the  same  way,  for  they  would  fill 
these  same  bags  with  coal  pilfered  from  the  yards  of  dealers,  or  the  pave- 
mont  bins  of  small  tradesmen,  which  they  broke  open.  No  petty  sneak 
t liief.  who  IS  the  scorn  of  accomplished  outlaws,  was  ever  reduced  to  such 
8  lifts  as  these,  but  these  facts  are  absolutely  true  of  the  crhninal  who  de- 
Clares  from  the  I  inghamton  jail  that  no  man  ever  lived  with  higher  ob- 
jects  than  himsem  So  far  is  this  from  the  truth,  that  it  can  be  easily 
shown  that  his  objects  were  always  ignoble,  and  in  no  way  more  vividly. 

tnan  in  his  treatment  of  his  naanmntc  ,-,,  .v,;„-.-„  „-,j  -•  ..     ^         ' 

,  '•'  '■!  -nnory  ana  -onniu.     jjexter  was 

detecte  I  in  one  of  Ins  petty  pilferings,  was  arrested,  convicted,  and  sen- 
tenced  to  a  term  of  sixty  days  in  the  Kings  County  Penitentiary.  This 
event  gave  Eulloff  an  opportunity  for  one  of  those  strokes  of  business 


48 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  UYES. 


peculiar  to  his  genius,  although  he  did  not  himself  at  first  appear  person- 
ully  in  the  transaction.  Under  pretence  that  the  money  was  to  be  used 
to  get  him  out  of  prison,  Dexter  was  induced,  jointly  with  his  brother  and 
mother,  to  borrow  $500  on  the  Graham  street  property,  and  to  give  Kul- 
L*ff  a  power  of  attorney  to  act  for  them.  The  money  was  obtained  from 
Mrs.  Arabella  Armstrong,  through  Joseph  Fettridge,  her  attorney,  to 
whom  application  was  made  by  Jarvis  under  the  name  of  Charles  Thomp- 
son, by  which  designation  he  was  always  known  among  the  Doxters. 
A  mortgage  was  given  on  the  property  to  secure  this  loan,  and  the  money 
getting  inlo  the  hands  of  Rnlloff  and  Jarvis,  its  subsequent  fate  was  a 
mystery.  It  i^  only  certain  that  none  of  it  was  used  for  the  benefit  of 
Dexter,  as  that  unfortunate  regained  his  liberty  only  by  serving  out  his 
full  time.  From  that  time  forward  the  owners  had  no  control  of  the 
small  property  which  belonged  to  himself,  brother,  and  mother  jointly, 
but  which  being  in  the  hands  of  RuUoff  as  attorney,  he  was  not  only 
able  to  collect  the  rents,  which  he  converted  to  his  own  use,  but  to  talk 
elsewhere  of  his  Brooklyn  property,  and  thus  add  to  the  petty  deceptions 

of  his  life. 

In  this  mean  way  the  year  was  eked  out,  and  no  certain  knowledge  of 
the  life  of  the  outlaws  has  been  obtained  during  the  period  from  the  latter 
part  of  1865  until  the  middle  of  1866.  But  during  this  time  there  was 
a  crime  committed  in  the  City  of  New  York  which  has  ever  since  remained 
a  mystery,  and  which  in  many  respects  was  the  prototype  of  the  Bing- 
hamton  tragedy.  During  the  night  of  the  14th  of  February,  1866,  the 
Bilk  trimmings  manufactory  in  35th  street,  between  8th  and  9tli  avenues, 
was  entered  by  burglars,  who  carried  away  property  valued  at  $2,000, 
and  who  encountered  the  watchman,  Philip  Kraemer,  on  the  second  floor, 
beat  him  so  brutally  with  some  heavy  blunt  implement  that  he  died  in  a 
few  hours  without  having  recovered  couciousness  aftev  hs  was  discovered. 
Inspector  Walling,  then  captain  of  the  20th  Precinct,  and  'lis  detailed 
officer,  James  Irving,  now  Captain  of  Detectives,  two  of  the  ablest  offi(;er3 
attached  to  the  New  York  Police,  gave  to  this  terrible  crime  the  fullest 
investigatit)n,  but  were  unable  to  ever  discover  the  assassin,  or  to  satisfy 
themselves  of  any  fact  connected  with  the  perpetrators  except  tliat  they 
were  not  professional  burglars  who  wore  accustomed  to  do  work  in  the 
city.  The  men  were  seen  to  leave  the  building,  but  the  person  who  saw 
them  was  only  able  to  give  the  general  description  of  two  of  them,  that 
they  were  young  men,  and  one  of  them,  who  wore  a  moustache  and  goatee, 
«,ao  voTnarknhlv  cmnA  InnkmcT.  but  of  the  third  mftn  hc  was  unable  to  say 
anything  whatever.  To  this  identical  factory,  as  Capt.  Hedden  discovered 
four  years  afterward,  RuUoff,  under  the  name  of  R  0.  Howard,  had  taken 
tk  lot  of  eiik  thread  to  be  dyed  and  thus  deprecisited  its  value  $300, 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


ppear  person- 
as  to  be  used 
3  brother  and 
I  to  give  Kul- 
jbtained  from 
r  attorney,  to 
larles  Thomp- 
the  Doxters. 
md  the  money 
»nt  fate  was  a 
the  benefit  of 
erving  out  hia 
control  of  the 
lother  jointly, 
was  not  only 
e,  but  to  talk 
tty  deceptions 

knowledge  of 
TOin  the  latter 
ine  there  was 
lince  remained 
I  of  the  Bing- 
ary,  18G6,  the 
1  9th  avenuest 
,ed  at  $2,000, 
e  second  floor, 
t  he  died  in  a 
'as  discovered. 
i  'lis  detailed 

ablest  offifjers 
110  tlie  fullest 
a,  or  to  satisfy 
jept  tliat  they 
3  work  in  the 
jrson  who  saw 

of  them,  that 
lie  and  goatee, 
;  unable  to  say 
len  discovered 
ard,  had  taken 
■M  value  $300, 


49 


BO  as  io  make  it  manifest  that  it  was  stolen  property.  Tliis  fact 
joined  with  the  other,  and  the  description  of  one  of  the  young  men  was 
in  general  that  of  Jarvis,  has  latterly  led  to  the  belief  that  the  EulloflF 
Irio  committed  the  crime.  It  is  not  intended  to  lay  this  murder  positively 
at  the  door  of  a  man  who  has  enough  without  it  to  answer  for,  but  the 
jmrpose  of  the  writer  is  merely  to  state  the  truth,  that  there  is  now  a 
conviction  in  the  minds  of  many  who  have  carefully  considered  the  deed 
in  the  light  of  recent  developments,  that  he  and  his  dead  comrades  were 
the  guilty  parties.  But  this  is  the  only  crime  they  are  even  suspected  of 
ever  committing  in  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XIV.  ' 

DOMESTIC  LIFE  WITH  IN  T  B  E  BU  PTI  0  N& 

The  lapse  of  time  and  steady  additions  to  the  long  catalogue  of  their 
outrages  upon  property  made  no  improvement  in  the  fortunes  of  these 
outlaws.  In  the  middle  of  1866  Eulloff  and  Jarvis  were  living  in  the  two 
front  rooms  on  the  second  floor  of  No.  19  Delancey  street.  New  York, 
which  they  had  furnished  themselves  in  a  cheap  way.  Somotimr  s  they 
cooked  their  food  themselves,  but  often  er  obtained  their  meals  h.  the  low 
restaurants  of  the  neighborhood.  In  this  abode  they  were  enigmas,  and 
for  the  only  time  during  these  shadowed  years  were  objects  ot° suspicion 
to  the  other  inmates  of  the  house.  Eulloff  was  known  by  his  favorite 
alias  of  E.  0.  Howard,  and  pretended  to  be  a  teacher  of  languages  by 
profession,  while  his  companion  Jarvis,  who  was  styled  Charles  Thompson, 
never  took  the  trouble  to  state  his  means  of  livelihood,  and  occupied  his 
time  when  at  home,  in  studying  German  under  the  direction  of  his  com- 
panion. 

The  writer  has  a  friend  who  occupied  rooms  on  the  same  floor  with 
these  men,  who  was  in  daily  intercourse  with  them  for  several  months, 
and  whose  knowledge  of  their  true  character  has  been  gained  by  the  re- 
velations of  the  Binglmmton  murder.  From  this  source,  which  is  entirely 
reliable,  many  interesting  facts  have  been  gained  of  the  domestic  habits 
of  bufglnra  and  assassins  when  resting  from  their  labors.  It  was  noticed 
during  all  of  their  protracted  residence  in  this  house,  that  both  of  them 
would  frequently  be  absent  for  days  together,  and  when  they  returned 
would  always  have  plenty  of  money,  whereas  their  purses  were  romarka- 


50 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


i 


ble  only  for  emptiness  just  prior  to  their  departure.     Once  the  other  ten- 
ant of  tlie  floor  remarking  upon  this  singuhirity,  asked  them  if  they  were 
travelling  agents,  and  both  answered  in  the  affirmative  with  suspicious 
alacrity.     But  with  the  exception  of  these  strange  departures  and  re- 
turns, there  was  nothing  to  awaken  distrust  of  the  lodgers.     They  wera 
.  men  of  the  most  quiet,  inoflFensive  habits,  and  addicted  in  a  remarkable 
^  degree  to  sedentary  pursuits.     They  always,  when  in  the  city,  spent  their 
evenings  at  home  in  reading  or  study,  and  their  frivolities  were  bounded 
I  by  occasional  games  of  whist  or  euchre,  in  both  which  games  RuUoff  was 
proficient.     Sometimes,  but  still  more  rarely,  liquor  of  the  milder  sorts 
would  be  brought  into  the  room,  and  sparingly  drank  by  both,  but  in 
this  respect  both  were  abstemious  far  beyond  the  average  of  reputable 
men.     If  they  had  any  liaisons  with  frail  women,  they  managed  to  keep 
the  fact  concealed  from  those  who  saw  almost  hourly  into  their  domestic 
life.     They  appeared  to  be  model  lodgers  who  were  averse  to  dissipation 
of  all  kinds,  and  certainly  never  brought  their  home  into  disrepute  by 
X'eeling  into  it  drunk  at  unseemly  hours. 

After  they  had  been  some  months  in  the  house,  their  domestic  circle 
was  increased  by  the  arrival  of  a  one-eyed  iuan,  and  still  later  by  the 
coming  of  two  women,  to  whom  the  rear  rooms  on  the  second  floor  were 
given,  and  who  were  announced  as  a  sister  of  EuUofFand  her  daughter, 
which  they  were  not.  The  identity  of  this  man  and  the  elder  of  these 
women  has  since  been  fully  established,  but  as  it  was  never  discovered 
that  the  iivat  was  ever  engaged  in  any  crime,  and  the  other  has  since  re- 
formed, and  is  reputably  married,  cruel  wrong  would  be  done  by  dragging 
them  into  an  unnecessary  publicity.  After  these  additions  there  was  lit- 
tle if  any  change  in  the  daily  life  of  tho  outlaws,  and  no  improprieties  in 
the  conduct  of  any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  second  floor  were  ever  de- 
tected. But  Rulloff  and  Jarvis  at  last  suddenly  disappeared  from  the 
house,  as  they  always  did  in  the  end,  from  all  their  homes,  and  soon  after 
the  others  going,  the  second  floor  was  tenantless,  but  still  held  by  Rulloff', 
as  his  furniture  remained  in  the  front  room.  When  his  absence  had  been 
protracted  for  several  weeks,  and  it  was  not  only  reported  but  believed  in 
the^  house  that  he  had  been  arrested  for  frauds  of  some  kind  upon  the 
United  States  Government,  the  landlord  entered  upon  the  premises  and 
eizing  the  furniture,  sold  some  of  it  to  pay  the  -  irs  of  rent.  But  just 
ifterwards  the  one-eyed  man  reappeared,  claimed  the  furniture  in  the 
name  of  Rulloff,  and  carted  it  away.  Neither  Rulloff  nor  his  quiet,  gen- 
tlemanly companion  were  ever  afterwards  seen  in  the  house. 

"•'l-e  fact  was,  however,  that  instead  of  being  arrested  for  frauds,  he  had 
be^a  traveling  in  the  one  path  of  crime  in  which  he  always  trod,  and 
had  been  detected  and  arrested  in  the  commission  of  a  burglarj'  upon  a 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


fi| 


the  other  ten- 
ri  if  they  were 
ith  suspicious 
tures  and  re- 
I.  They  were 
a  remarkable 
ty,  spent  their 
lyere  bounded 
5s  Rullo£f  was 
I  milder  sorts 
both,  but  in 
of  reputable 
aged  to  keep 
leir  domestic 
to  dissipation 
disrepute  by 

)mestic  oircle 
.  later  by  the 
nd  floor  were 
ev  daughter, 
Ider  of  these 
)r  discovered 
has  since  re- 
by  dragging 
iliere  was  lit- 
)roprieties  in 
'ere  ever  de- 
•ed  from  the 
id  soon  after 
dbyRuIloflP, 
Qce  had  been 
it  believed  in 
nd  upon  the 
remises  and 
it.  But  just 
liture  in  the 
s  quiet,  gen- 

auds,  he  had 
ys  trod,  and 
jlarj'  upon  a 


store  in  one  of  the  interior  towns  of  Massachusetts.     In  this  instance  ho 
has  80  successfully  concealed  his  history,  that  the  writer  has  been  unable 
in  the  limited  time  at  his  disposal  to  learn  the  details  of  his  offence,  or 
the  manner  in  which  he  finally  evaded  the  full  measure  of  its  penalty,  as 
he  undoubtedly  did,  for  he  was  only  lost  in  the  labyrinths  of  the  law  for 
a  few  weeks,  when  another  glimpse  of  the  man  who  was  "living  with  a 
high  object,"  was  obtained  in  Western  New  York.     He  appeared  in 
Monticello,  the  shire  town  of  Sullivan  county,  where  he  took  lodging  at 
the  Mansion  House,  under  his  alias  of  Jas.  Nelson,    and  almost  imme- 
diately upon  his  arrival  nmde  a  deposit  of  a  small  atnount  in  the  National 
Union  Bank  of  Sullivan  county,  which  is  the  leading  financial  institution 
of  the  town.     After  becoming  a  depositor  he  made  frequejit  visits  to  the 
bank  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  small  amounts,  as  was  then  supposed, 
but  as  is  now  known,  to  acquire  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  interior  of 
the  banking  house.     His  next  movement  was  to  obtain  lodgings  at  the 
boarding-house  where  George  E.  Bennett,  the  teller,  lived;  and  he  soon 
made  decided  advances  in  his  usual  persuasive  manner  toward  an  inti- 
macy with  that  gentleman.     While  his  plans  were  thus  slowly,  but  suc- 
cessfully maturing,  and  he  was  yet  entirely  unsuspected,  he  suddenly 
decamped,  leaving  about  $200  on  deposit  in  the  bank,  which  he  has  never 
returned  to  claim.     Soon  after  his  departure  a  set  of  burglar's  tools,  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  bank  work,  was  found  concealed  in  the  hay-mow  of  a 
iarmer,  in  the  outskirts  of  the  village.     So  vivid  was  the  impression  he 
made  upon  the  bank  officials  that  long  afterwards,  when  he  was  under 
arrest  at  Bingliamton,  Israel  P.  Tremaine,  the  cashier,  had  no  difficulty 
in  swearing  to  his  identity  with  the  man  having  an  unclaimed  balance  in 
their  vaults.     It  was  not  then  known,  nor  has  it  since  been  learned  why 
he  left  without  claiming  his  assets  ;  but  his  presence  in  the  town  was  then, 
and  has  over  since  been  coupled  with  the  concealed  instruments  of  his 
calling.     It  is  probable  that  he  was  not  only  meditating,  but  cautiously 
approaching  a  bank  burglary  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  his  life.     On 
all  other  occasions  he  was  satisfied  with  rifling  a  store,  and  neither  he 
nor  his  confederates  were  ever  known  in  any  other  case  to  rise  abov    +he 
lower  di'gi-ees  of  robbery. 

The  ijroceeiings  of  the  outlaws  during  the  year  18G8  are  not  known, 
beyond  the  fact  that  Rulloff  was  once  in  trouble,  but  where,  or  for  what 
oftenoe,  or  how  ho  regained  his  liberty,  are  circumstances  the  detectives 
have  been  unable  to  unearth.  There  is  no  record  of  Jarvis  having  been 
detected  in  any  of  hi.s  f^nt^rnvisc",  during  that  year,  and  that  outlaw,  who 
was  so  refined  in  liis  tastes  and  habits  as  to  be  almost  finical,  generally 
had  better  fortune  than  his  seuior.  Indeed,  one  who  knew  of  all  their 
operations,  but  stoutly  resisted  every  attempt  to  cajole  any  revelations  out 


£2 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIYES. 


i!' 


of  her,  in  her  rage  at  the  final  catastrophe  declared  that  they  always  were 
caught  when  that  clumsy  Doctor,  with  his  lame  foot,  thereby  meaning 
KuUoff,  was  along,  but  when  Billy  and  Charley,  meaning  Dexter  and 
Jarvis,  were  alone,  they  always  siiceeeilod.  But  this  declaration  being 
based  on  her  admiration  of  the  handsome  Jurvis,  was  without  value  except 
OS  tending  to  show  the  frequency  of  the  depredations  in  which  they  were 
engaged. 

The  close  of  1868  marked  a  new  era  in  the  lives  of  these  three  outlaws. 
Then  for  the  first  time  there  is  proof  that  the  dreams  of  EuUoff  took 
their  last  and  philological  shape  with  sufficient  distinctness  for  him  to 
buoy  up  his  deluded  followers  with  some  tangible  proof  that  the  long 
promised  time  of  plenty  and  peace  was  at  hand.  Living  then  somewhere 
in  Hoboken  or  Hudson  City,  New  Jersey,  lie  began  his  work  upon  Method 
in  the  Formation  of  Language,  upon  which  he  was  to  expend  vast  labor 
as  well  as  much  time,  and  in  which  he  was  himself  to  sincerely  believe  to 
the  last.  The  beginning  of  this  epoch  is  proved  to  have  been  about  tliis 
time  by  the  f  ict  that  his  confederates  were  then  first  heard  to  speak  of  liia 
work,  although  it  is  probable  that  he  had  himself  conceived  the  idea, 
and  expended  many  hours  in  his  "  searches"  for  examples  prior  to  that 
date.  But  it  was  certainly  not  until  a  very  recent  day,  comparatively, 
that  he  began  to  occupy  the  time  spared  from  burglary  with  those  philo- 
logical labors,  which  were  in  the  end  to  be  so  startlingly  interrupted. 


M'.   IP 

I 


~^H  ^'^ 

^B  P'* 

gH   th; 

^B  tcr 

^H  ^^'* 

^H  ^''" 

^H  ^^^ 

^H  an( 

^H   8tU 

^H  anc 

^^K  ten 

^H  tna 

■jH  hav 

J  par 

1 

THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


they  always  were 
thereby  meaning 
.ning  Dexter  and 
declaration  being 
hout  value  except 
,  which  they  were 

)8e  three  outlaws. 
IS  of  EuUoff  took 
.ctness  for  him  to 
)of  that  the  long 
;  then  somewhere 
ork  upon  Method 
)xpend  vast  labor 
ncerely  believe  to 
i  been  about  tliis 
rd  to  speak  of  liia 
iceived  the  idea, 
pies  prior  to  that 
y,  comparatively, 
with  those  philo- 
Y  interrupted. 


03 


CHAPTER  XV. 

FROM   rSJILOLOGY   TO   MUUTVER. 

TNthebeginninjj  of  1869,  Rulloff  and  J«rvis  to„k  up  th.h  la,t  rosi 
dence  .n  New  York  at  No.  270  Third  Avenue,  renting  two    oIh  . 
625  per  month  on  the  second  floor,  from  Mr.  Conrad  Jakob     At  thh 
time  tl.e  frowns  of  fortune  were  unusually  severe,  for  t 'ey  Lltan  " 

.on.  m.eri.  modi«catio...    U.^^^^!^::^  Z^^^;:^!; 

catio.,   but  Charles  G.  Curtiss,  o^J!:^:,^'".;;:':;;':^- 
">a,.ne.tT   nppeared  on   the  scene   but  one  of  t  „  '^''^ 

language  af.d  some  rare  lexicons.  vamabJe   work8  upon 

bright  example  to  the  voutr^r^l  ■  f'"^'"r  """"' '"'  «'<""«'»  » 
-s  eitea  in  L  houLlhChe"  iv'  ^  "' jIT  ^'  '""'  "« 
Plary  la,ly,  „„t  o„ly  bade  her  son  f7J.   ,  .  ^°^-  "  """"  «™- 

that  of  (he  excellent  oh1„,i  '"  P"""'"  •■"  "'-araoter  by 

.er  p»un„e,  ri^elf;  rp^,-::;^^^-  i.e,.  dang,:: 

after  day  at  the  fp«.t  «f  fi  •       *  f^^oc^ous  gul  of  fourteen,  to  sit  day 

ping,  o  Ar::!:d::?„^;  r  "t:  iir::r  ■ --"-^ '"?  ^-^^  = 

osleemod.    Quiet  almct  to  aedatenel,  s    „p  .Z^:™  rhil^'"' 
and  attn-e,  ff  vintr  his  nJo-hfo  «« i  '  "pu»ou8iy  neat  m  his  habits 

paragons  ehe  had  secured     Tbel  hi  f      ^        Possession  of  the  two 
seemed.     They  had  no  company,  no  carouses  j  they 


S4 


THE  AIAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


I  HI  '• 


11  ■'       :i;: 


were  never  out  at  night,  were  never  noisy  or  troublesome,  were 
prompt  in  their  payraenia,  and  Rulloff  showed  hia  careful  training  and 
strict  business  habits  by  always  taking  receipts  whenever  he  paid  out 
any  sums  of  money,  however  trivial.  ' 

The  days  became  weeks  and  the  weeks  months,  only  to  add  to  the 
coiilSdence  and  esteem  with  which  these  two  men  were  regarded  in  a 
most  estimable  family.  RuUotf  during  all  this  time  was  one  of  the 
most  hard-working  of  men,  as  he  often  sat  steadily  writing  at  hia 
desk  all  day  and  f:ir  into  the  night  upon  that  great  work  which  was 
to  bring  him  good  repute  and  fortune  in  the  evening  of  an  infamous 
md  wrelchod  life.  Wlien  not  in  the  house  during  the  day,  he  was 
generally  to  be  found  in  the  Eclectic  Library  in  Irving  Place,  poring 
over  old  volumes  of  forgotten  learning,  and  digging  from  the  accumu- 
lated erudition  of  all  the  centuries  those  five  thousand  examples  which 
were  to  illustrate  his  work  and  prove  the  correctness  and  value  of  his 
discovery  of  "Method  in  the  Formation  of  Language."  At  the 
libiiry  the  character  of  his  investigations  was  well  known,  and  the 
librarian,  who  esteemed  him  as  a  most  unobtrusive  and  industrious 
gentleman,  to  some  extent  sympathizsid  with  his  labors.  "While  hesi- 
tating in  the  inchoate  state  of  the  tasic  from  giving  it  his  unqualified 
approbation,  he  could  easily  see  that  this  professor,  whose  French  name 
but  German  aspect  declared  that  he  probably  came  from  the  debata- 
ble land  of  the  Rhine,  was  doing  a  work  of  some  value  in  the  system- 
ization  of  language,  and  making  clear  the  pathway  of  future  laborers 
in  a  most  thankless  field  of  human  learning.  He  was  the  pioneer  who 
hiid  gone  out  into  a  wilderness  that  might  never  repay  cultivation, 
and  was  clearing  away  the  debris  of  centuries  of  neglect  upon  the 
chance  that  when  the  field  was  fully  developed,  it  might  repay  the 
labor  that  had  been  bestowed  upon  its  preparation  for  intelligent  and 
easy  cultivation.  To  the  librarian,  a  man  thus  engaged  was  an 
enthusiast  in  philology,  some  of  whose  ideas  might  be  seemingly 
absurd,  and  whose  scheme  might  in  many  respects  be  faulty,  but 
who  was  nevertheless  entitled  to  sympathy  and  respect,  as  enthusiasts 
generally  are.  Therefore,  this  philological  burglar  and  assassin,  dur- 
ing  the  many  weeks  of  his  constant  resort  to  the  library,  met  with  the 
kindliest  reception  and  received  such  aid  as  the  librarian  had  time  to 
give  him. 

The  meagre  needs  of  b'iS  abstemious  life  were  meantime  supplied  by 

VllVftl     Kiirrrlarioo     orttxm'.ttaA   \\tt  Jaftria     anA      Tin-vt-rxf  .     -fV.;.    4^1. ^...^    i^    ^r\ 

-  — -— £3'*~ ^^-....-.5... *     --j     --.vt    r    !»:»       «*tl»«        J'v.-tLfVl     ,       l\ji       ttl^lTJ      13      XIV 

evidence  that  Lullofi"  was  engaged  personally  in  any  crimes   during 
1869,  or  in  1870,.  until  August.    His  two  young  confederates  never 


esome,  were 
training  and 
'  he  paid  out 

;o  add  to  the 
egarded  in  a 
,8  one  of  the 
i^iiting  at  hia 
k  which  waH 
an  infamous 
day,  he  was 
'lace,  poring 
1  the  accunm- 
mples  which 

value  of  his 
je."  At  the 
3wn,  and  the 
i  industrious 

While  heei- 
8  unqualified 
French  name 
1  the  debata- 
1  the  system- 
ture  laborers 
pioneer  who 
r  cultivation, 
ct  upon  the 
ht  repay  the 
telligent  and 
iged  was  an 
je  seemingly 
e  faulty,  but 
s  enthusiasts 
assassin,  dur- 
met  with  the 

had  time  to 

3  supplied  by 

•imes  during 
[erates  never 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  u 

desired  his  company  on  their  lawless  expeditions,  because  of  his  olum- 
»  einess  and  the  fatality  of  detection  which  seemed  to  attend  him  every- 
where.     There  was  therefore  an  agreement  mutually  satisfactory,  that 
J  they  should  do  the  stealing  necessary  for  the  subsistence  of  all,  while 
'"  he  should  devote  himself  uninterruptedly  to  the  philological  depart- 
ment of  their  mutual  labors,  excepting  such  demands  as  should  be 
A  made  upon  his  time  by  the  disposal  of  the   booty.     For  RuUoff 
I  was    suspicious    even  of    his    devoted   disciples,  and  always    in- 
f  Bisting    upon    himself    turning    their     stolen    goods,  into   money 
f  thereby  kept    the    finances    within     his    own    control.      But    to 
*  make  amends  for  this  distrust,  he  was  always  ready  to  aid  them  in 
any  one  of  the  many  ways  in  which  he  believed  himself  to  be  irresist- 
ible  ;  and  afterwards  when  upon  his  trial,  by  the  testimony  of  Isaac 
W.  Brown,  late  Sheriff  of  Cortland  County,  this  man  of  multiform 
names  and  aspects  appeared  in  yet  another  capacity  and  with   still 
j  another  cognomen.     A  man  calling  himself  Davenport,  but  who  was 
shown  to  be  the  same  person  as  Wm.  T.  Dexter,  spent  nine  months  of 
the  year  1869  m  charge  of  Brown,  in  the  Cortland  jail.     During  his 
:  mcarceration  a  letter  was  received  by  one  of  the  Deputy  Sheriffs  from 
a  person  signing  himself  James   E.  Dalton,  who  claimed  to  be  an 
attorney,  and  made  inquiries  in  relation  to  the  case  of  Davenport 
Shortly  afterward  a  man  whom  the  witness  recognized  as  RuUoff 
I  presented  himself  to  the  Sheriff  as  James  E.  Dalton,  and  at  one  of  his 
imterviewswiththat  official  attempted  to  bribe  him  by  the  offer  of 
1500  to  permit  Dexter,  alias  Davenport,  to  escape    from  prison, 
rhe  attempt  to  mtroduce    this    e/idence  brought  Rulloff   to  his 
feet  to   object  to  it  as  irrelevant.      He   w^s   strangely   excited   by 
this  revivor  of  one    of  the  facts  of  his  tortuou.  life  ;   for  when 
Mr    Ilopkms  said  that  his  object  was  to  show    that   the  prisoner 
took    more    interest   in  Davenport  than    attorneys  usually  do   in 
c  lents  as  he  was  ready  to  spend  money  for  him,  Rulloff  testily  re- 
phed,     I  would  do  as  much  for  my  client  as  you,  provided  I  had  the 
I  money  of  a  county  at  my  command,"  and  he  ended  the  episode  bv 
remarking,  sotto  voce  «  D-n  such  evidence."    The  testimony  as  to 
the  Identity  of  the  Cortland  prisoner  Davenport  with  the  burglar 
i  \C^!  T  f<H-ther  strengthened  by  Charles  Brown,  a  young  son  of 
I  be  Sheriff,  who  had  bought  for  Davenport,  while  a  pHsoner  of  his 
.  fa  hH-  a  cr)py  of  the  fortune-telling  book  called  mpoleon  Omlum, 

'^M  Winch,  or    nno    ovxif Nr  IIK-    it     «t<.^    r         j  -         .  ' 

„.,      .,      .,,""  "'•'  ""®  i^was  found  upou  the  body  of  Dexter 

u  iif';i  tho  i.heM.ango  nvt-r  gave  up  its  dead 

This  oxpulition   to  Cortland  Cou.r.y  ^as  his  only  absence  from 


tn 


THE  JIAN"  OF  TWO  L1T.ES. 


home  diirincr  the  year,  except  ^hat  occasioned  by  one  of  the  most,  note- 
worthy inoi(l«nii»  of  hi«  singular  career.     Oii  tlwj  27th  and  2aLh  days 
of  July,  1869,  the  Aroerioan  Philological  Convention  was  in  Hthnion  at 
Poog-hkeepBie,  and  th«  Belt-imagined  emb(,di*nent  of  coinemp<  "uneouH 
learning  in  its  department  waa  in  attendance  upon  it,  as  ProfeHsor  Ed- 
ouard  Lenrio.     Pie  was  a  stranger  to  the  learned  and  repuiable  gen- 
tlemen composing  the  body,  bnt  his  refined  manner— whioli  he  could 
asHume  when  required,  although  naturally  coars»— bis  evident  intimate 
acquaintance  yith  the  subject,  and  his  earnest  persistence,  at  last  forced 
hnn  upon  the  notice  of  the  Convention.    He  showed  no  diploma  from 
any  seat  of  learning,  and  gave  no  certificate  of  character ;   but  he 
'-vas  so  manifestly  a  harmless  philologist  with  a  hobby,  and  nothing 
else,  that  the  Convention,  more  to  get  rid  of  him  porhapa  than  from 
any  other  motive,  so  far  took  his  "  Method  »'  into  consideration  as  to 
refer  his  manuscripts  to  a  committee.    But  the  committee,  upon  the 
cursory  examination   which  their  time   permitted,  found  theLeurio 
scheme  appai-ently  false  in  its  basis  and  construction,  but  from  kindli- 
ness for  the  enthusiast,  and  Irora  a  fear  that  they  might  in  their  haste 
have  misjudged  it,  they  reported  back  only  that  it  did  not  come  within 
the  objects  of  the  Convention,  and  therefore  recommended  that  it  be 
no  further  considered.    This  course  was  adopted,  and  there  is  abiu.d 
ance  of  evidence  that  Rulloff  was   deeply  disappointed  by  this  over- 
throw of  hia  hopes.     For  he  had  fed  himself  and  his  two  confederates 
in  crime  with  the  belief  that  the   Convention  would  eagerly  seize  his 
marvel  and  publish  it  at  the  general  expense,  but  for  his  solo  profit 
Poor  ignorant  Billy  Dexter,  to  whom  everything  beyond  burglary 
was  unknown,  told   his  brother  John  shortly  afterwards  how  jlm-^ 
as  Rulloff  was  always  called  by  him,  for  the  rofvson  that  he  had   first 
known  him  ill  Sing  Sing  as  "Big  Jim  "—had  taken  his  book  before 
Congress,  but  the  Congressmen  hadn't  sense  enough  to  see  that  it  was 
worth  publishing,  and  Jim  was  going  to  publish   it  himseir.     Billy 
added  that  he  and  Charley  would  get  the  money  to  do  it  with,  so  that 
it  is  evident  it  had  been  fully  determined  to  enlighten  the  world  w?th 
the  Leurio  "  Method  in  the  P\)rmation  of  L;  >guage '»  at  the  expense 
of  those  merchants  in  the  interior  towns  whose  stores  should  offer  the 
best  inducements  and  facilities  for  burglarious  entrance.     Events  are 
often  strangely  produced,  but  there  is  perhaps  nothing  in  human  his- 
tory more  strange  than  iliat  a  trivial  incident  in  the  proceedings  of  a 
Philological  Convention  should  result  in  many  burglaries,  and'at  las'i 
clmiuate  in  murder. 

Baffled  in  his  endeavors  in  the  realms  of  abstruse  learaing,  as  he  ha-i 


I 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIV18. 


nnjformly  been  in  his  orimcH  Riillnff"  i.n»-,-„„i  *    u-    t. 

Third  AvcTiue,  dlKlieartened   b„    tw,  ?  *""  ^""""^  **  ^^-  ^^^ 

purnofle     The  olZntZi        ,  ^''  ""^  intention  of  abandoning  hi. 

out  to  him  the  iullLt  re/Z  "  1  ^'^^^^      ^T"«  ^^'■^"g-     Pouring 

-Method."  The  ah  Jnce  of  j!  v^^^^^  h.B  labors  upon  hi. 

their  crimes  were  occrrirf  1   h    ^         "  "^7'  ^'■'^"*"''  «'^«^'"S  that 
during  the  litter  pan  71^0/  Thus  the  days  pawed 

when'the  man  of  twl  1  ves  wa^  "  th^  v"  ^^l^  noontide  of  1870. 


CHAPTER  XVX 

TilB   HALBBRT   HO«KOB. 

at  No.  170  Third  avemie  New  Y  V     f^  ?'^"^'  ""^"«  '"'^'''^^^7 
i"  the  dilapidated  te„em;n?^^  ''  ''""  ^"^^^^^«  ^— "'^ 

store  of  DM  &  E  G  H^ih!^^  ^^  ^''"^"'"  «^'"««^'  Brooklyn,  that  the 

was  in  a  very  insecure  condition,  o^nrto Yhe  tt  thaf  f  "^  r  •'"' 
bomg  ad  led,  the  rear  wall  had  been  taL  out  iJ^i  l''''"''^" 
r'otection  was  such  as  wonl^LtTi  '    ^  ^^^  substituted 

burglary  five  mTnutes  Tn^n"  ^f^^^^^^"  "^^P^Jtes  in  the  art  of 
knew  furthJr  fW  .1  "O'^e.^esly  effecting  an  entrance.    They 

ml  tcludinl  a  ,  ''T  T'''''^  ^  S""^^^'  ^^^'^^-^  of  d  y 

ti.erefbre  both  tcUhv^^n^   ^^.    '"^^^  ''P'^  '^^ expedition.   Having 
n...  -i;,,  -   - '^'^y  ^"'^   inducement  for   the  entern..;««  tl,«^  «,.J! 


<4 


0S 


TflE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


m 


they  coul(\  ^ain  the  bedside  of  tlic  hleeping  eentinels  without  awakou- 
ing  theru,  and  their  subseqiu'iit  unooiisciouBness  during  the  lime  ueceii- 
Baiy  to  complete  the  robbery  eould  l>e  made  certain  by  the  uho  of 
chh)roform.  There  was  tlK'i.'fore  no  risk  to  be  incurred,  and  it  being 
determined  that  the  Messrs.  llalbtrt  sliould  contribute  to  the  philolog. 
ical  publication  fund,  the  three  oulhiws  left  New  York  by  one  of  the 
morning  trains  on  the  Erie  Railway  to  collect  that  quota. 

They  reached  Binghamtoa  early  in  the  evening,  but  after  dark, 
and  during  that  night  and  most  of  the  next  day  kept  hidden  some- 
where m  the  city.     It  is  believed  that  they  hud  a  confederate  who  re- 
Bided  there,  and  all  the  circumstances  make   it  certain,  not  only  that 
such  was  the  case,  but  that  ho  lived  on  the  side  of  the  Chenango  river 
opposite  from  the  Ilalbert  store.     liut  this  narrative,  dealing  only 
with  thoroughly  established  facts,  must  be  resumed  with  the  lirsL  Lour 
of  Wednesday,  August  17th,  which  was  between  midnigla  and  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning.     The  three  men  then  stole  up  unseen,  us  they 
easily  could  at  that  hour,  in  a  town  which  has  only  five  policemen, 
through  the  open  lots  in  the  rear  of  the  store  which  extend  down  to 
the  Chenango  river.     One  hundred  foot  from  the  place  where  the  en- 
trance was  to   be  effected,  they  were  entirely  concealed  by  the  unfin- 
ished walls  of  the  new  extension  of  the  store,  and  being  several  feet 
below  Court  street,  with  which  the  salesroom  was  Level,  it  will  be  seen 
they  were  approaching  the  basement  of  the  premises,  and  not  the  floor 
on  which  the  two  clerks  wjre  sleeping.     The  slight  noise  they  made 
in  boring  the  holes  necessary  for  them  to  reach  and  force  back  the 
bolts  which  secured  the  door  would  not  therefore,  as  it  did  not,  awaken 
the  clerks,  and  they  gained  the  basement,  from  which  a  broad  flight  of 
stairs  led  straight  up  to  the  salesroom ;   and  near  the  head  of  these 
Btairs,  at  the  then  rear  of  the  store,  was  the  bed  of  the  clerks.  Pausing 
m  the  bast  ment,  the  burglars  prepared  themselves  in  the  manner  of  ex- 
perienced professionals  for  the  work  in  hand.    Jarvis,  more  thoughtful 
than  his  companions,  was  properly  accoutred  inrubbers;  but  Dexter  took 
off  his  patched  and  well-worn  shoes,  and  his  example  was  followed  by 
the  man  than  whom  none  was  "living  with  a  higher  object"  than  him- 
self,  who  removed  his  patent  leather  Oxford  ties.     Noiseless  movement 
being  thus  secured,  the  three  burglars,  putting  on  masks,  glided  up  the 
stairs  and  to  the  bedside  of  the  sleeping  guardians  of  the  premises,  with- 
out making  the  slightest  sound.     The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  ad. 
minister  chloroform  to  the  clerks,  and  their  continued  unconsciousness 
being  thus  secured,  the  wort  nf  BnAilofi'/^r^  «^,v.^«^~.-;i      i  ,  .i^ 
01  the  store  at  the  rear  end  was  one  of  those  small  pens  common  in  dry 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  59 

poodH  rtorc,  which  ar«  called  officf*,  aud  a  j;a8  jet  half  turnod  0,.  Wina 
burning  m  this,  afforded  ihe  .poilerH  all  nfct.88:iry  li-rht.      They  care 
fully  Holected  those  «ilk9  which  would   have  the  moat  value  with  the 
loant  bulk,  and  carrying  them  ir.to  the  basement  close  to  the  open  door 
made  them  up  into  bundles  convenient  for  removal,  until  they  had  thuj 
prepared  property  valued  at  about  ll.r.OO,  and  of  con«ideral,le  bulk 
This  must  have  occupied  from  Homo  cause  more  time  than  was  neces^ 
sary  for  the  burglars  were  yet  engaged  in  the  work  when  they  were 
startled  by  a  sudden  movement  on  the  bed  of  one  of  the  clerks.    Thev 
hastened  to  the  bedside  to  administer  another  dose  of  chloroform  aad 
saw  the  two  young  men  staring  at  them  with  scarcely  opened  ey'es. 

Thus  far  the  story  has  been  based  on  what  must,  from  all  the  cir- 
cum«tances  have  been  the  facts,  but  thenceforward  it  has  the  positive 
bas  s  of  the  narrative  of  Gilbert  S.  Durroughs,  one  of  the  two  survivors 
of  the  terrible  scene  which  followed. 

For  an   instant   the  two  prostrate. guardians  and  the  three  erect 

sufficed  for  Burroughs  to  see  that  all  were  maske<l,  that  from  under 
tae  disguise  of  one  straggled  along  gray  beard,  that  one  of  the  other 
men  was  quite  small      Suddenly  Mirrick  and  Burroughs  simultane 
ously  and  instinctively  arose  from  the  bed.  and  the  three  burglars 
edged  away  toward  the  stairs.     But  the  smallest,  who  was  Delte 
Urried  nearer  than  the  others,  and  between  him  and  Burroughs  the  con: 
llict  began      The  evidence  is  not  positive  on  the  point,  but  it  is  prob- 
able  hat  the  latter  gave  the  first  blow  just  as  Mirrick  at  the  instant 
of  nsing  from  the  bed  made  the  first  attempt  to  use  fire-arms    rtM- 
pistol  unfortunately  twice  missed  fire,  and  being  abandoned  as  useless 
he  seized  he  tops  of  the  stools  for  customers  as  the  only  weapons  a    his 
hand  and  began  to  throw  them  at  the  burglars,  who  retreated  down 
thesta.i-8,  just  at  the  moment  when  Burroughs,  who  had  meantime 
clmched  with  Dexter,  threw  him  and  struck  him  over  the  eye  a  blow 
with  an  iron  box-opener,  that  wrung  from  him  an  agonizi^  cry  for 

.tu\  .    m"?   °",^       ''  P'''^"'   ^"'•^  °°  '^'^  «««"«.  and  Burroughs 
calhMl  to  Mirnck  to  come  and  help  «  fix  » the  prostrate  man.     The  c^- 

intruders  "''"''"'  ''""'''^  ^""^^^^  ""''^  '^'  '"""P^'''  discomfiture  of  the 
But  in  a  moment  the  two  others  were  heard  below  returning  to  the 

Cll^trc"'"-  courage  and  nobility  than  any 

ero  Of  OKI  coivaa-y,  uurriea  to  the  i.ead  of  the  stairs  to  meet  them' 

lie  grappled  there  with  the  younger  who  was  foremost,  and  bore  hira 


f 

•it  ft 


CO 


THE  ^rA-sr  of  two  lives. 


backward  by  sheer  strength  until  he  had  the  marauder  prostrate 
across  a  low  box  on  which  some  goods  were  piled,  and  bending  over 
him  with  his  back  to  the  stairs  held  him  down  with  a  grip  from  which 
there  was  no  escape.  Meantime  Burroughs  lett  Dexter  seemingly  in- 
Bensible,  and  also  advanced  to  the  stairs  and  met  the  third  burglar 
face  to  face.  His  mask  had  been  removed  or  had  fallen  from  him,  and 
Burroughs  saw  hiui  square  in  the  face  as  he  mounted  the  staira.  Then 
for  the  first  time  the  outlaws  had  recourse  to  the  pistol,  this  burglar 
ascending  the  stairs  firing  four  shots  at  Burroughs,  all  of  which  went 
wide  of  the  mark,  but  the  last  striking  the  edge  of  the  stair  banister 
threw  off  some  splinters  \\  l.ich  struck  Burroughs  in  the  face,  and  the 
Bting  followed  by  the  trickling  of  blood  from  the  scratch  induced  him 
to  fall  back  exclaiming  he  was  shot.  All  this  occupied  but  a  moment, 
but  it  was  precious,  because  the  last  of  the  conscious  life  of  the  heroic 
Mirrick,  who  meantime  held  the  second  burglar  down  in  his  powerful 
grasp.  Then  came  the  culmination  of  nearly  forty  years  of  warfare 
on  society,  when  the  fourth  of  known  murders  by  one  man  was  added 
to  its  dreadful  predecessors,  and  the  two  lives  were  blended  into  an 
indivisible  unit  of  unparalleled  infamy.  That  third  burglar  stole  up 
behind  Mil  rick,  and  placing  his  hand  upon  his  neck  fired  his  pistol 
with  the  rauzile  almost  in  contact  with  the  back  of  his  head,  and  sent 
a  bullet  crushing  its  way  into  the  brain  of  that  martyr  to  his  trust. 

Burroughs  saw  this  dreadful  crime  committed ;  heard  the  assassin 
-av,  in  the  moment  of  horror,  when  the  murdered  Mirrick  fell  uncon- 
scious to  the  floor,  and  the  two  prostrate  burglars  sprang  to  their  feet, 
"  Come  on,  Pat,  we  have  done  enough  ;"  saw  them  go  down  the  stairs 
to  the  basement.  Then  he  ran  to  the  fi-ont  door,  unlocked  it,  opened 
it,  sprang  into  the  street,  and  startled  the  sleeping  city  with  the  cry  of 

murder. 

As  he  cried  he  ran  up  into  and  down  Water  street,  so  as  to  com- 
mand a  view  of  the  rear  of  the  store,  yet  saw  no  one  ;  but  it  may  be 
said,  generally,  that  a  moment  afterwards  he  and  others  daw  t^.o  men 
furtively  retreating  towards  the  Chenango  river  a  few  yards  away,  u.id 
a  third  slinking  in  the  opposite  direction  under  the  shadows  of  the 
building,  which  was  the  last  ever  seen  of  any  of  the  burglars  alive 
near  the  scene  of  their  crime.  A.lmost  before  Burroughs  could  get 
back  into  the  store  the  city  was  alarmed.  Mr.  James  Flynn,  the  Chief 
of  Police,  sleeping  in  the  hotel  opposite,  had  been  called  ;  the  fire-bells 
wora  rni..r  rallirifr  the  citizens  into  the  streets  to  confront  a  more 
dreadful  disaster  than  a  mere  conflagration  of  property  Iiistantly 
Flyau  organized  au  impiomptu  police  force  of  willing  volunteers,  and 


^ 


p  prostrate 
[iding  over 
from  which 
eraingly  in- 
ird  burglar 
m  him, and 
lira.  Then 
his  burglar 
tvhich  went 
lir  banister 
,ce,  and  the 
iduced  him 
a  moment, 
f  the  heroic 
is  powerful 
of  warfare 
was  added 
led  into  an 
ar  stole  up 
:1  his  pistol 
d,  and  sent 
lis  trust, 
he  assassin 
fel'  uncon- 
o  their  feet, 
n  the  stairs 
it,  opened 
h  the  cry  of 

as  to  com- 
t  it  may  be 
iW  tv,o  men 
i  away,  u.id 
ows  of  the 
rglars  alive 
8  could  get 
n,  the  Chief 
;he  fire-bells 
3nt  a  more 
Iiistantly 
inteurs,  and 


JARVIS. 


UEXTEK, 

THE  DROWNED  BURGLARS. 


i 

i: 


M 


il 


nm  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  «} 

sent  out  heavy  patrols  on  all  the  streets,  alleys,  and  by-ways  to  inte^ 
cept  the  assassins. 

In  the  midst  of  this  agony  of  excitement  the  life  of  the  martyred 
Mirrick  was  fast  ebbing  away.    Surgeons  had  been  summoned  at  the 
first  alarm,  but  they  came  only  to  bend  helplessly  over  the  dying 
youth.    Few  scenes  in  all  the  history  of  human  sorrow  are  more 
pathetic  than  the  one  presented  in  that  store  in  the  gray  dawn  of  that 
August  morning.     A  youth  not  yet  nineteen  years  of  age,  whose  life 
had  been  blameless,  who  had  sacredly  discharged  every  trust  com- 
mitted to  his  hands,  who  had  been  the  pride  of  his  parents  and  the 
ornament  of  his  social  circle,  whose  mental  and  moral  qualities  had 
promised  a  life  of  usefulness  and  honor,  and  who  a  few  moments  be- 
fore had  been  in  the  robust  health  that  would  give  him  many  yeai-s  of 
life,  lay  there  bleeding,  unconscious,  dying.     And  all  hearts   were 
doubly  wrung  by  remembering  that  he  had  sacrificed  himself  to  duty 
by  thinking  how  easily  he  might  have  escaped  had   he  been  less  true 
to  his  manhood.      The  very  manner  of  his  death  proving  how  great 
was  the  loss  to  the  community,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  whole  people 
sorrowed  for  this  youth,  wlio,  lingering  unconscious,  yielded  up  his  life 
thirty  minutes  after  the  assassin,  gliding  up  behind  him,  had  fired  the 
shot  which  had  destroyed  a  priceless  fabric.    And  the  people  for  the 
time  soiTowed  as  without  hope,  for  this  murder  was  a  mystery,  and 
tbey  did  not  know  that  in  the  end  that  shot  was  to  afford  mankind  the 
recompense  of  shattering  a  temple  of  deceit,  reared  by  years  of  clumsy 
craft,  to  shelter  a  man  of  two  Uvea. 


ttl 


CHAPTER  XVIL 

AN   OLD   ACQUAINTANCB   EKCOGNIZED, 

The  crime  was  an  enigma.  Of  all  the  facts  told  in  this  narrative 
none  were  known  to  the  horrified  people  except  the  outlines  of  this  last 
dreadful  deed.  Burroughs  could  and  did  give  a  general  description 
of  the  persons  of  the  three  burglars,  and  said  always  that  he  could  re- 
cognize the  man  with  whom  he  had  struggled,  and  the  one  who  had 
fared  the  pistol,  if  he  should  ever  see  them  again  ;  but  his  descriptions 
were  of  men  known  to  nOne,  and  gave  no  clue  to  their  identity  Ed- 
ward H.  Rulloff  had  long  before  been  lost  in  E.  C.  Howard,  Edouard 
j.enri.,,  ..c.m.a  n.  i,.tri,un,  juiiicb  iL.  i>»alton,  or  some  one  of  his  aliases 
Jarvis  had  long  before  been  foi-gottenin  that  portion  of  the  State  and 
Dexter  had  never  been  heard  of,  except  in  the  previous  summer  as 


•i 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


I 


Wm.  Davenport  in  the  Cortland  Jail.  These  men  were  therefore  en- 
tirely unknown  and  unsuspected,  and  the  people  who  had  been 
Bhocked  by  this  terrible  crime  had  at  tirst  only  a  few  flimsy  shreds  of 
circumstantial  evidence  by  which  to  discover  the  perpetrators ;  but  in 
the  end  these  became,  from  the  singular  coincidence  of  the  case,  irre- 
futable testimony. 

The  scene  of  the  tragedy  being  examined,  it  was  found  that  the 
burglars  had  fled  in  such  haste  that  they  had  left  behind  them  not 
only  the  goods  which  had  been  the  object  of  the  entrance,  but  several 
masks,  a  brace,  one  pair  of  common  gaiter  shoes,  a  pair  of  patent  leather 
Oxford  ties,  with  a  singular  depression  at  the  toe  of  the  left  foot,  and 
some  other  articles  which  were  not  of  subsequent  interest.  It  was 
further  found  that  two  of  the  burglars  had  retreated  down  toward  the 
Chenango,  for  the  footprints  of  a  man  in  his  stocking  feet,  and  of  an- 
other who  wore  rubbers  or  moccasins,  could  be  plainly  seen  in  some 
fresh  earth  which  had  been  thrown  up  for  a  roadway  along  the  bank 
of  the  stream  ;  tl:  se  tracks  pointed  to  the  river,  but  could  not  be 
traced  into  it,  because  of  a  space  of  hard  earth  over  which  the  men  had 
to  pass  before  reaching  the  watei*.  There  was  no  sign  anywhere  of 
the  third  man,  and  conjecture  was  at  fault  even  in  the  case  of  those 
whose  tracks  were  seen,  for  they  led  only  to  the  river,  and  there  the 
puzzled  law  could  only  sniff"  the  empty  air.  To  go  out  into  the  whole 
world  and  search  for  the  owners  of  a  pair  of  ordinary  gaiters  and  a 
pair  of  Oxford  ties  was  a  hopeless  task,  so  that  during  all  vof  Wednes- 
day there  was  a  general  ieeling  in  the  community  that  this  crime 
would  be  added  to  the  long  catalogue  of  impenetrable  and  unpunished 
murders. 

But  that  no  chance  might  be  neglected  that  would  offer  a  clue  to 
the  perpetrators,  during  that  day  Mr.  Flynn,  Chief  of  Police, 
kept  large  squads  of  special  police  constantly  patrolling  the  city  and 
stationed  at  every  outlet,  so  that  no  stranger  could  enter  or  leave  or 
pass  anywliere,  even  a  hundred  yards,  without  interception  and  inves- 
tigation. It  was  thought  possible,  although  not  probable,  that  the 
burglars  might  have  tarried  in  the  town,  and  it  was  determined  that 
if  they  had  they  should  not  escape.  During  the  day  very  many 
persons  were  halted  and  examined,  but  being  able  to  give  a  satisfactory 
account  of  themselves  were  permitted  to  go  their  several  ways,  and 
as  the  night  came  on  the  hope  which  had  been  founded  on  the  possible 
stupidity  of  the  assassins  grew  fainter.  But  about  midnight,  Cyrus 
A.  Stockwell  being,  with  others,  upon  guard  at  the  point  where  the 
bridge  of  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western  Railroad  crosses 


i 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


68 


therefore  en- 
10  had  been 
usy  shreds  of 
•ators ;  but  in 
the  case,  irrc- 

ind  that  the 
lind  them  not 
e,  but  several 
patent  leather 
left  foot,  and 
rest.  It  was 
^u  toward  the 
it,  and  of  an- 
seen  in  some 
ong  the  bank 
could  not  be 
the  men  had 
anywhere  of 
ease  of  those 
nd  there  the 
ito  the  whole 
gaiters  and  a 
1  vof  Wednes- 
it  this  crime 
d  unpunished 

)ffer  a  clue  to 
f  of  Police, 
:  the  city  and 
iv  or  leave  or 
on  and  invea- 
iblo,  that  the 
ermined  that 
r  very  many 
i  satisfactory 
al  ways,  and 
1  the  possible 
night,  Cyrus 
it  where  the 
[road  crosses 


Court  street  at  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  saw  a  man  walking*  on  the 
track,  and  called  to  him  to  halt,  which  he  refused  to  do,  uraking  no 
answer.     Before  Stockwell  could  reach  the  man,  a  long   coal  train 
rushed  between  them,  and  when  it  had  passed  the  man  had  disappear- 
ed.   He  and  his  comrades  began  a  protracted  search  for  the  man 
which  was  finally  ended  by  the  call  of  Chauncey  Livingstone,  whose 
house  was  near  by,  that  he  had  the   man.    They  then   went  back 
to  the  house,  near  where  the  man  had  been  first  seen,  and   Living- 
stone delivered  to  them  a  prisoner,  who  was  taken  to  Chief  Flynn. 
Chauncey    Livingstone     explained    how    he    was    awakened    by 
the  noise  of  the  Stockwell  party,  and,  believing  they  were  intent  upon 
stealing  his  fruit,  sat  down  on  his  back  porch  to  watch  them.     lie  sat 
there  a  long  time,  an  hour  or  more,  smoking.    It  was  a  clear  night, 
and  surrounding  objects  were  distinctly  visible.  For  a  long  time  he  saw' 
nothing,  heard  nothing  whicl  attracted  his  especial  attention.     As  he 
sat  on  his  porch,  the  outhouse  in  his  yard  was  in  plain  view,  the  door 
being  toward  him,  and  open,  for,  had  it  been  shut,  he  would  have  sup- 
posed some  one  to  be  in  there,  and  would  have  gone  to  it  at  once.    At 
last  he  imagined  the  shadow  on  the  inside  of  the  outhouse  was  too 
dark  to  be  natural.     He   looked  and  wondered  for  some  moments, 
and  the  longer    he    looked  the   more   that  shadow  troubled  him* 
until  at  last  he  got  up  and  walked  to  the  outhouse,  pistol  in  hand*, 
and  there  in  the  corner,  crouching  in  the  smallest  possible  space,  and* 
scarcely  breathing,  in  which  almost  unendurable  position  he  had 'been 
without  moving  for  more  than  an  hour,  was  Ed,ward  H.  Rulloff.     He 
came  forth  at  the  command  of  Livingstone,  enforced  as  it  was  with  a 
pistol,  and  in  answer  to  the  natural  demand  for  his  name  was  unpre- 
pared as  in  all  crises  of  his  life  with  an  answer ;  so  he  replied  at  random 
and  happened  to  say  Charles  Augustus,  which  was  too  manifest  an 
absurdity  to  impose  even  upon  rustics.     He  carried  a  small  satchel  in 
his  hand  and,  having  an  umbrella,  besides  being  respectably  dressed  if 
he  had  not  refused  to  stop  when  first  challenged,  had  not  hidden  away 
or  even  had  not  been  so  incoherent  when  first  arrested,  he  mio-ht  have 
been  permitted  to  pass.     For  the  story  he  told  while  being  t^ken  into 
the  town  for  delivery  to  Chief  Flynn  was  not  intrinsically  improbable 
and  told  at  first  would  have  been  a  passport  to   liberty  and  life.' 
When  it  was  too  late,  he  said  that  he  had  been  visiting  friends  at 
Union,  a  small  town  above,  and  having  missed  the  train,  w'^is  walking 


a|      to  save  time,  as  he  desired  to  call   on  otlu 


..-.«r;->„     «     ..I i. 


distance 


east  before  going  on  to  New  York.  But  even  this  story  he  could  not 
adhere  to,  as  he  contradicted  it  in  several  important  particulars  even 
before  his  delivery  to  Chief  Flynn.  * 


I 


64 


tub:  MAur  of  two  lites. 


Bat  the  people  did  not  know  the  prize  that  incorrlgiblo  stupidity 
bad  placed  in  their  hands.    This  man  was  an  entire  stranger,  who  wa« 
evidently  disconcerted  for  some   reason,  but  it  seemed  absurd  to  sup- 
joso  that  an  aged  man  of  such  reputable  appearance  could   be  the 
burglar.     Calling  hintself  George  Williams,  and  at  last  stoutly  adher- 
ing to  the  Union  stoiy,  he  seemed  safe,  althongh  encompassed  by  his 
old  familiars  in  the  shape  of  prison  walls  ;  for  Burroughs,  who  thought 
he  looked  something  like  the  burglar  with  the  straggling  gray  whiskers 
would  not  swear  positively  to  his  identity,  and  there"  was'  no  proof 
whatever  against  him  ;  yet  he  was  detained  for  a  chance,  and  Friday 
morning  the   seetliing  city  had   a  new  and  more  startling  sensation. 
Early  in  the  morning  two  dead  bodies  were  seen  lodged  against  the 
piers  of  the  Court  str-et  bridge  over  the  Chenango  river,  only  a  few 
feet  distant  from  the  Halbert  store.     They  were  fished  out  from  the 
stream,  the  eye  of  the  larger  one  being  torn  out  with  a  grappling  hook 
in  the  process,  and  had  haiv.ly  been  five  minutes  on  shore  when  it  was 
certain  that  these  were  two  of  the  men  who  had  been  engaged  in  the 
burglary.     Burroughs  recognized  the  smaller  as  the  man  with  whom 
he  had  struggled,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  fact,  for  the 
corpse  had  a  recent  gash  above  the  eye,  in  the  precise  position  and  of 
the  exact  shape  which  Burroughs  had  described.     The  larger  of  the 
drowned  men  had  in  his  pocket  a  bit  which  exactly  fitted  the  holes  in 
the  bored  door,  so  that  it  was  evident  tkat  the  outraged  law  had,  by 
some  most  singular  accident,  been  cheated  of  two  of  the  perpetrators 
of  a  horrible  crime.     It  was  never  known  positively  how  these  men  met 
their  death,  but  it  is  supposed  they  were  attempting  to  ford  the  river 
which  they  could  easily  have  done,  as  it  was  aiaiost  everywhere  only 
two  or  three  feet  deep,  had  they  not  got  into  a  very  deep  hole  just  at 
the  point  whei-e  they  wouW  naturally  have  entei*ed  the  stream,  of  which 
they  must  have  been  ignorant.     Suddenly  and  unexpectedly  finding 
themselves  under  water,  the  fact  that  they  would  naturally  clutch  each 
other,  and  that  the  smaller  was  almost  helpless  from  the  wound  over 
the  eye,  was  sufficient  to  account  for  their  failure  to  get  out  of  the 
hole,  as  they  might  have  done  with  one  strong  sensible  effort. 

The  possession  of  the  bodies  not  only  corroborated  the  story  of  Bur- 
roughs, but  placed  many  additional  links  of  evidence  in  the  ar- 
ticles found  on  them  in  the  hands  of  the  authorities.  The  search  was 
moreover,  now  narrowed  to  one  man,  and  the  bodies,  having  been' 
photographed,  were  removed  lo  the  basement  of  the  Comt-house 
where  Rnlioff  was  confi-onied  with  them.  In  that  most  awfnl  moment 
©f  his  life  he  displayed  more  of  uerve  and  sense  than  he  had  ever  done 


lo  stiipiditf 
er,  who  waa 
turd  to  sup - 
uld  be  the 
•ntly  adher- 
ssed  by  his 
ho  thought 
ly  whiskers, 
8   no  proof 
iud  Friday 
',  sensation, 
igainst  the 
only  a  few 
it  from  the 
pling  hook 
7hen  it  was 
iged  in  the 
mth  whom 
ict,  for  the 
ion  and  of 
ger  of  the 
lie  holes  in 
kW  had,  by 
jrpetrator9 
le  men  met 
the  river, 
v^hero  only 
3le  just  at 
1,  of  which 
lly  finding 
lutch  each 
ound  over 
out  of  the 
t. 

ry  of  Bur- 
n  the  ar* 
sarch  was, 
Ing  been 
int-house, 
si  moment 
ivet  done 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  «t 

before.    There  lay  the  bloated  bodies  of  the  only  two  associates  ho 
had  had  for  years,  one  of  whom  he  had  lured  from  the  paths  of  recti- 
tudo  a  dozen  years  before,  and  who,  he  afterwards  asserted,  was  the 
only  human  being  he  had  ever  loved.     This  most  have  been  the  first 
intimation  he  had  received  of  the  fate  which  had  overtaken  these  part- 
TitTH  in  his  crimes  and  hopes;  yet,  standing  at  their  feet,  he  gazed  stead- 
lly  at  them  without  the  quivering  of  a  single  nerve,  so  far  as  the  closest 
obnervor  could  discern,  and  then  said,  in  a  perfectly  natural  voice,  that 
he  had  never  seen  either  of  them  before.     But  to  guard  against  the 
possibility  of  mistake,  he  asked  permission  for  a  view  from  another 
pomt,  and  going  around  to  the  h-ads  looked  equally  long  and  stead- 
fastly,  but  with  the  same  result ;  for  he  again  declared  \hat  he  had 
never,  to  his  knowledge,  seen  either  of  these  men  in  life.     He  was 
taken  back  to  jail,  but  tfie  confidence  of  the  authorities  in  their  ability 
to  lawfully  detain  him  any  longer  was  greatly  shaken.     For  the  first 
time  in  his  life  Edward  H.  Rullolf  had  shown  that  he  had  iu  him  some 
thing  of  the  8tufi*of  which  great  criminals  are  made. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1    TKHBIBLK     MI8TAKB. 

But  he  was  to  neutralize  the  good  he  had  done  his  cause,  and  dc 
Bcend  again  to  his  natural  level  of  transparent  artifice.    That  e  venine 
being  taken  before  Coroner  Worthing  and  District  Attorney  Hopkins 
he  was  subjected  to  a  long  and  tedious  examination.     Both  officials 
thought  they  were  dealing  with   a  r.iral  preacher  or  teacher,  and 
asked  question  after  question,  more  with  anundefinec'  idea  that  it  was 
their  duty  to  do  something  than  from  a  belief  that  the  time  was  bein- 
profitably  spent      There  he  sat  readily  answering  all  questions,  bu° 
persistmg  in  holding  his  hat,  which  was  a  silk  one  in  good  condition 
npon  Ins  knee  rim  down,  although  requested  by  the  Coroner  to  place' 
1  on  the  table.     He  also  kept  his  coat  buttoned  to  the  throat,  although 
the  weather  was  sultry.     Next  morning  this  hat  was  cat  away  to  near 
the  crown   thus  making  it  a  nondescript  cap,  and  all  the  front  of  his 
shirt  had  been  torn  out,  and  it  was  learned  from  his  own  statements  to 
Mr.  Martin,  Sheriff  of  Broome  County,  that  he  had  cut  up  the  mlssinc. 
parts  o    both  hat  and  .hirt  into  such  small  fragments  that  they  had 
gone  through   the  waste  pipe  of  his   cell  into  the  sewer.     It  seems 
ainaziug  that  even  this  conduct  at  the  time  made  no  impression  of  his 
guilt,  and  alter  a  protracted  examination  on  Saiurday  muniin-  before 


B?^ 


6G 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


the  CoroTior,  lie  wns  diticharged  under  highly  sensational  circuraHtances. 
Just  fcH  he  was  about  to  leave  the  room  as   Mr.  George  Williams, 
Judge  IJalcom,  before  whom  he  had  argued  the  writ  of  habean  corpus 
yaars    before,  happened    to    enter,   instantly   recognized    him,   and 
promptly  declared  him  to  be  Edward  II.  RuUoff.     For  a  second  time, 
the  man  of  two  lives  was  equal  to  an  emergency,  and  seized  his  own 
f  infamy  as  a  shield  against  this  new  danger.     Turning  back  into  the 
j  room,  he  said  with  a  most  convincing  manner :  "  There,  gentlemen, 
t  you  have  an  explanation  of  my  strange  conduct.    Knowing  of  my  mis- 
fortunes in  this  portion  of  New  York,  you  can  understand  why  I  v/as 
anxious,    ding  here  accidentally  when  a  murder  was  committed,  to 
pass    through   the  city  without  my  identity   being    known.     You 
know  the  proverb,  gentlemen,  about  the  results  of  giving  a  dog  a  bad 
name."    There  was  a  revulsion  of  feeling  in  his  favor,  which  was  very 
stupid,  but  perhaps  natural  also,  and  both  Coroner  and  Uietrict  At- 
torney shaking  his  hand  cordially  as  a  tacit  apology  for  liis  brief 
detention,  the  discharge  was  ratified  and  he  left  the  room.     Stepping 
across  the  street,  he   purchased  a  cap,  which  was  the  last  article  of 
dress  he  was  ever  to  buy,  and  then  walked  rapidly  away. 

But  suddenly  some  one  remembered  that  the  feet  of  RuUoff  had  been 
fozen  when  he  committed  the  Warren  burglary,  and  that  having  lost 
the  great  toe  of  his  left  foot,  the  singular  depression  at  the  point  of  the 
left  Oxford  tie  was  fully  accounted  for.    Here  was  evidence  no  one 
appears  to  h.ive  thought  of  when  the  prisoner  was  in  custody,  and  all 
haste  was  made  to  repair  the  terrible  mistake  of  his  discharge.     Per- 
sons were  sent  in  pursuit  of  him  in   all   directions,  and  among  them 
Robert  Brown,  Deputy  Sheriff,  who  succeeded  in  rearresting  him  an 
hour  later  on  the  Erie  Railway  track,  four  miles  east  of  Binghamton. 
He  saw  him  for  some  time  before  he  came  within  hailing  distance,  and 
saw  that  he  was  walking  very  fast,  about  110  steps  to  the   minute 
having  his  coat  off,  carrying  it  on  his  arm,  and  his  cap  off  occasionally. 
When  he  called  to  him  to  halt  the  fugitive  obeyed  readily,  answering 
when   Brown  said,  "  Mr.  Rulloff^  we've   concluded  not  to  let  you  go 
just  yet,"  with  '*  What's  up  now  ?    What  new  discoveries  have  been 
made?"     Brown  only  replied  by  requiring  him  to  take  off  his  left 
boot  and  sock,  and  exhibit  his  deformed  foot,  which  he  did  without 
remonstrance.     When  taken  to  the  jail  he  was  required  to  try  on  the 
shoes  found  in  the  store,  which  were  found  to  be  a  perfect  fit,  even  to 
the  protuberances  f  n  the  left  foot.     Rulloff  said  that  he  seldom  wore 
shoes,  and  had  worn  the  boots  he  had  on  when  captured  all  summer, 
and  also  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  there  was  no  depression  al  the 


THE  l\rAN^  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


rcuraHtances. 
;o  WillianiB, 
abeait  corpus 
i    him,  and 
second  time, 
ized  his  own 
lack  into  the 
,  gentlemen, 
g  of  my  mis- 
i  why  I  v/as 
)m  mi  tied,  to 
lown.     You 
a  dog  a  bad 
ch  was  very 
Dietrict  At- 
)r  Iiis  brief 
.     Stepping 
Jt  article  of 

off  had  been 
having  lost 
point  of  the 
ence  no  one 
ody,  and  all 
arge.     Per- 
raong  tliem 
ing  him  an 
•ingliamton. 
stance,  and 
the   minute 
iccaBionallv. 
answering 
let  you  go 
s  have  been 
off  his  left 
lid  without 
•  try  on  the 
fit,  even  to 
Idom  wore 
ill  summer, 
ssiun  al  the 


9f 


toe  of  the  loft  foot,  but  the  officers  discovered  that  he  had  filled  up  tho 
epaco  left  voiil  by  tlie  want  of  n  large  toe,  with  cotton. 

But  thesd  boots,  it  was  noticod,  were  almost  entirely  new,  and  it 
was  further  noticed  that  when  requested  to  put  on  the  jhoes,  he  laced 
t'lein  with  the  same  peculiar  over-lapping  observable  in  the  lower 
holes  of  the  shoes  where  the  strings  had  not  been  unfastened. 

Here  was   something  tangible,  and  Riilloff  being  securely  held  in 
prison,  ]\tr.  Peter  W.  Hopkins,  the  keen  District  Attorney,  started  for 
New  York  on  the  search  for  evidence.     It  was  his  first  necessity  to 
prove  the  identity  of  the  drowned  men,  and  his  second  to  show  their 
acquaintance  and  companionship  with  Rulloff  prior  to  the  burglary 
By  the  fortunate  fact  that   upon  his  arrival  in  New  York  ho  secured 
the  services  of  Captain  Iledden  and  Detective  Phil  Roilley,  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Police  Precinct,  he  succeeded  in  both  objects  beyond  his  needs 
or  expectations.     There  was  perhaps  to  all  the  parties  a  fascination  in 
this  gradual  approach  to  the  secrets  of  shadowed  lives  which  fully  re- 
compensed the  irksome  labor  and  frequent  disappointments  which  fol- 
lowed, when  they  were  finally  crowned  with  complete  success 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

PKOM   DARKNESS   INTO   LIGHT. 

Captatn  ITedden  and  Detective  Reilley,  beginning  with  most  slen- 
der  clues,  worked  patiently  and  shrewdly  for  many  weeks  upon  this  case 
until  they  at  last  unravelled  many  mysteries  and  laid  bare  lives  of' 
crime  cloaked   by  assumed   respectability.     Snch  signal  success  aa 
crowned  their  efforts  rarely  falls  to  the  lot  of  detective  experience, 
because  such  patience  and  common  sense  in  dealing  with  isolated  facts 
is  rarely  displayed,  and  it  resulted  in  evidence  to  prove  who  the  dead 
men  were,  to  trace  them,  step  by  step,  for  months  prior  to  the  tra^redy  • 
to  show  how  Ed  ward  II.  Rulloff  was  for  years  the  confidential-associate 
of  Albtrt  T.  Jarvis,  cdias  Curtis,  and  William  T.  Dexter,  who  were 
drowned  in  th»  Chenango  river  on  the  night  of  the  17th  of  August 
one  of  whom  had  the  tell-tale  mark  of  the  iron  bar  on  his  forehead' 
and  the  other  the  condemnatory  bit  in  his  pocket,  and  both  of  whom' 
had  been  recognized  as  two  of  those  engaged  in  the  crime. 

Crime  has  rarely  been  more  completely  cloaked  or  more  patiently 
unmasked  then  in  this  remarkable  case.  When  Mr.  Hopkins  went  to 
New  York  he  had  nothing  but  six  keys,  a  drop  letter  addressed  to 


C8 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


k 


one   Henry  Wilson,  and  a  scrap  of  paper  bearing  the  name  of 
William    Thornton,    attor  ev,   «  i    liiwoklyn,    m    cluea    by    which 
thp  identity  of  his   pririoner  and  the  dead  men  were  to  he  estab 
Jished.     With  Dftcctivo  RoiHey  he  first  tried  the  Wilson  letter,  but  it 
taded  in  utter  failure,  as  il  led  only  into  th  i  labyrinths  of  illicit  lovo,  and 
the  parties  'o  it  were  in  no  way  connected  with  the  dark  traijedy  to 
be  uiiravelltd.     The  Thornton  clue  was  next  worked  with  much  greater 
Biiccess,  as  it  proved  the  key  which  unlocked  the  rayHtery.     Mr.  Hop- 
kins had  learned  before  he  left  that  Dexter,  one  of  the  dead  men,  had 
once  been  confined  for  a  criminal  offense  in  Cortland  County,  and  i.:\d 
called  upon  the  lawyer  whose  name  was  found  on  a  scrap  of  paper  in  his 
pocket,  to  aid  him.     But  Mr.  Thornton  denied  that  he  had  ever  been 
in  Cortland  County  in  his  life,  and  it  will  be  shown  that  he  was  per- 
sonated by  Rulloff;  and  from  this  starting  point,  Mr.  Hopkins  and 
Detective  Reilley  by  the  aid  of  a  good  deal  of  patience  and  shrewd- 
ness, finally  found  the  tumbledown  Dexter  house  in  the  suburbs  of 
Brooklyn.    No  one  was  there  but  a  woman,  who  unsuspectingly  an- 
Bwered  tie  careless  questions  put  to  her  until  the  oflScors  learned  that 
Billy  Des  ter  was  the  putative  owner,  but  that  she  paid  the  rent  <» 
Edward  C  Howard,  agent,  who  had,  unaccountably,  not  appeared  for 
two  mont-'S  to  claim  it.     Groping  still  in  the  dark,  Mr.  Hopkins  asked 
her  how  il  happened  Howard  was  agent  for  the  property,  and   re- 
ceived the  important  answer  that  Billy  Dexter  was  all  the  time  get- 
ting into  s  irapes,  and  Howard  was  a  shrewd  lawyer  who  had  got  him 
out  of  ther  i.     The  picture  of  Rulloff,  taken  after  his  capture,  was  then 
shown,  ana   she  instantly  exclaimed,  "  Why,  that's  the  agent."    The 
id«.    ity  of  Rulloff  with  Howard,  and  his  acquaintance  with  Dexter, 
was  thus  discovered,  and  the  overjoyed  but  also  overworked  District 
Attorney  Hopkins  went  back  to  his  office,  leaving  the  further  workin-^ 
of  the  case  in  New  York  to   Capt.  Heddeu  and  Detective  Rielley, 
with  whom  he  left  two  keys  fitting  doors  in   some   house  in  Third 
Avenue.    During  an  interview   with  John  Dexter,  brother  of  the 
drowned  burglar,  forced  upon  that  pei-son  at  tie  tumble-down  house 
at  the  dawn  of  an  October  morning,  Reilley  drew  from  hin,  the  ad- 
dress of  a  woman  known  as  Maggie,  living  at  No.  15  Carmine  street, 
who  had   been   housekeeper  for  Rulloff,  and  knew  where  he  lived. 
Capt.  Hedden   and  lleilley  instantly  visited  her,  and  failing  by  sub- 
lirliige  to  get  any  information  from  her,  as  she   was  then  aware  of 
the  mnrder,  finally  declared  tiieir  true  cliaracter,  and  demanded  the 
important  fact,  which  she  then  gave  by  lelliiig  them  that  Kniloff'  nnd 
Jai  vl^,  al  as  Curtis,  lived  at  No.  170  Tiiird  Avenue.     TJio  oCicers  in- 


Almost 
the  nin 

bornly 
up  in  til 
not,  the 
Jii'lge  i 
riciici'd, 
to  do  hi 
did  belt 


he  mame  of 
I    by    whi«h 
to  he  cstab 
1  letter,  but  it 
licit  lovo,  and 
k  tragedy  to 
much  greater 
f.     Mr.  Hop- 
i?a<l  men,  had 
nty,  and  i.:\d 
r  paper  in  his 
ad  ever  been 
1  he  was  per- 
[lopkins  and 
and  shrewd- 
suburbs  of 
)eotingIy  an- 
learned  that 
I  the  rent  I  i 
appeared  iov 
opkins  asked 
^rty,  and   re- 
he  time  get- 
had  got  him 
re,  wa3  then 
gent."    Tha 
dth  Dexter, 
ked  District 
her  workincr 
ive  Kielley, 
36  in  Third 
ther  of  the 
lown  house 
hiui  the  ad- 
mine  street, 
re  he  lived, 
ing  by  sub- 
in  aware  of 
nanded  the 
Kniloff'  nrid 
odcers  in- 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  lAVE^.  g^ 

stantly  proceeded  thither,  and  to  their  grn.c  joy  opened  the  street 
door  w.ih  the  n.ght-koy  taken  from  IluIlolTs  prKjk^t,  and  amazud  the 
Jakob  famdy  by  announcing  their  mission  and  the   true  character  of 
their  late  lodgers      T^pon  searching  the  rooms  they  found  n.anv  bur- 
glargtoo's,.ncludmgj,ramie8,dark  lantern*  and  masks,  but  Ma-ano 
had  removed,  two  days  before,  some  articles  which  Mr.  Ilonkins  had 
much  desued  to  get.     Oae  was  a  .hoe  which   had   been 'wo ru    by 
Kullofl,  but  a  1  boots  and  shoes    he  had  cast  into  the  street  and  they 
were  nreparab ly  lost     The  other  was  the  manuscript  book  on  Ian- 
puage  wntten  by  Rulloff,  under  the  name  of  Leurio,  which  she  had  re- 
luoved  to  her  house  ,n  Carmine  street,  where  Capt.  Iledden  seized  it 
.    U  Uh  these  diseovenes  and  .ei.ures,  all  absolutely  essential  .videnco 
had  been  obtained      The  keen  hiwyer  and  erudite  philologist  of  liAy- 
two  years  1.,  the  Lmghamtou   prison  had  been  changed  b^  the  detec- 
nvo  s  art  into  a  marauder,  at  war  with  society  for  thirty  years.     The 
b  oated  bodu.«  cast  out  by  the  Chenango  had  been  proved  to  bo  those 
of  apt  pupds  o   the  great  master  in  crime,  and  the  quiet  lef. at  of  th(! 
Hcdute  a"d  gentle  In.gmst  m  Third  Avenue  was  shown  to  be  a  den  of 
outlaws.     1  ^,e  hues  of  three  1 , ves  were  found  to  cross  and  interlock 
through  yeu-s  o    knavery,  and  these  three  lives  were  those  of  the 
aged  pr.sou<  r  and  ot   h,s  two  youthful  associates.  Dexter  and  Jarvis 
A   a  case  of  cn-cumstant.al  evidence,  it  .a.  complete.     There  was  a 
bel.ef,  however,  that  the  trial  would  be  intensely  dramatic,     k'm  .ff 
won      hght  hard  for  his  l.,e,  anu,  although  he  had  counsel  en^a  '  d 
would,  It  was  thought  take  the  lead  himself  in  his  defense,  as  he4l 
manv  years  ago.     Public  feeling  was  arrayed  with  singula    i   tensity 
agains  hun.  but  he  would  not,  for  that  reason,  be  abashed  or  fo w  d 
Almost  every  mhabitant  of  the  city  believed  him  to  be  a  prip.   nil  in 
he  murder  of  Mirrick.  but  he  would  not,  for  that  fact,  Ui     ess  '  t„b" 
bor«ly,n.se.-t  his  perfect  innocence.     The  facts  which   had  b Ten  d^^ 
"P  in  the  path  of  his  tortuou    ca-eer,  had  an  u<.ly  look   Uxt  I  e  L.M 
not  .,eren>re,  be  likely  to  b.    lukcw.rm  in  his^^C;.!." ':.:^:^    • 
Judge  and  jury  that  hi.  life  has  been  free  from  st.in.     Shrewd  ere-   ^ 
need,  m  a  certa.n  way,  and  to  some  extent  learned,  he  wa-  evSd 
d  b^  r         ''  '''  '"  ""^  ''^"  ^"^  ^"^'^^^^  bui^ar-murde™ 


70 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


CriAPTEU  XX. 

THB   BKailfHINa   OF  TUBS   EVD 

Wrrn  the  proof  of  all  those  facts  fully  prepared,  the  trial  of  the  pri« 
Boner  becjan  on  Tliursday,  January  6,  1871,  in  the  Court-house  of  the 
city  of  Binghamton,  betoro  Hon.  Henry  Hogoboom,  Justice  of  the 
Supremo  Court,  silting  in  Oyer  and  Terminer. 

lion.  M.  iJ.  Champlain,  Aitorney  General  of  the  State,  and  Peter 
W".  Hopkins,  Di«lrict  Attorney  of  Broome  County,  appeared  for  the 
puople,  while  Hon.  Charles  F.  Bcales,  of  Hudson,  and  George  Becker, 
Esq.,  of  Binghamton,  were  counsel  for  the  prisoner. 

When  the  prisoner  that  morning  emerged  from  the  obscurity  of  the 
jail,  where  ho  had  been  hidden  for  the  past  four  months,  hundreds 
eagerly  sought  to  catch  even  a  pausing  glimpse  of  him  as  he  walked 
over  the  few  rods  of  ground  between  his  prison  and  the  Court-room, 
where  he  was  to  be  ou  trial  for  his   life.     Even  in  that  room  he  was 
throughout  tlie  day  the  centn*  of  hundreds  of  curious  eyes,  for  the 
room  was  densely  crowded  during  every  moment  of  the  protracted 
proceedings.     Those  who  achieved  the  felicity  of  an  entrance  into  the 
room,  to  which  many  hundreds  failed  to  obtain  admission,  saw  a  man 
far  advanced  in  life,  but  one   who,  thanks  to  art  and  the  remarkablo 
kindness  af  Sheriff  Martin,  showed  few  outward  signs  of  age.     When 
dragged  from  that  out-house  in  the   suburbs  of  the  city,  in  the  gray 
dawn  of  an  August  morning,  RullofF  was  not  of  a  pleasing  aspect.    He 
was,  indeed,  fully  dressed,  but  his  clothes  bore  marks  of  rough  usage, 
and  his  demeanor  was  so  disturbed  that  he  looked  fully  sixiy  years  of 
age.     Now,  however,  he  might  be  supposed  a  man  of  forty-live  in  ex- 
cellent preservation.     Then  his   beard  was  full,  straggling,  and  mixed 
wiih  gray  ;  but  now  it  was  upon  the  cheeks  only,  was  closely  cut,  aud 
of  a  dull  brown  color.     Then  his  hair  was  long  and  unkempt,  but  now 
it  was  of  proper  length  and  arrange  1  with  scrupulous  care.     Then  his 
clothes  were  soiled  with  recent  rough  usage,  and  now  the  damages  in- 
flicted during  that  desperate  epoch  in  his  life  h:i<i  been  repaired,  and 
there  was  no  man  in  all  the  audience  whose  g.ub  more  closely  adhered 
to  the  established  standard  of  respectability.     But  the  man's  face,  hit* 
BJngular'eye,  his  usual  expression,  no  time  or  art  had  changed  since 
the  long  years  ago  when  he  was  tried  for  his  life  in  Tioga  County.   He 
was  yet   the   man  of  fidl  Btature,  iieavy  frame,  broad,  short  face, 
heavy  chin,  firm  mouth,  broad  projecting  brow,  heavy  eye1>row9,  hazel 
eya*,  singular  complexion,  and  large  head  squarely  and  firmly  set  upon 
his  shoulders  by  a  short  thick  neck.    Tlmw  was  uolhiug  diabolical  ia 


*M 


% 


al  of  the  pri« 
house  of  the 
iistice  of  the 

e,  and  Peter 
^ared  for  the 
orge  Becker, 

curity  of  the 
,h8,  hundreds 
a  he  walked 
I  Court-room, 
room  he  was 
eyes,  for  tho 
le  protracted 
ance  iiito  the 
1,  saw  a  man 
^  reniarkahio 
acre.     When 
,  in  the  gray 
[  aspect.    He 
rough  usage, 
ixiy  years  of 
•ty-live  in  ex- 
5,  and  mixed 
'Sely  cut,  and 
ipt,  but  now 
e.     Tlien  his 
1  damages  in- 
•epaired,  and 
'Sely  adhered 
Ein's  face,  his 
langed  since 
County.   He 
short  face, 
brows,  hazel 
nly  set  upon 
diabolical  in 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  i^j 

his  cxpre^ion,  but  a  great  deal  that  was  furtive  and  Bnggestive.  To 
the  casual  observer  this  man  of  an  extraordinary  career  seemed  only  a 
man  of  weak  character,  but  of  proper  motives.  Keen  scrutiny  how- 
ever,  d.sooverod  something  painfully  unpleasant  in  that  massive  face 
There  was  not  villany  in  it,  but  the  possibility  of  villany  was  in  the 
lines  of  tho  mouth  and  the  secretive,  inquiring  eyes.  Seen  in  the  ordi- 
nary  affin.  of  hfe,  Edward  H.  Rulloff  would  be  taken  for  a  cunninjr 
lawyer  m  small  practice,  but  seen  as  he  was,  there  was  nothing  u  * 
natural  m  his  position.  ° 

^   His  demeanor  throughout  the  preliminary  proceeding,  of  his  triil 
justified  the  general  opinion  of  his  natural  shrewdness,  and  unmistak- 
ably  showed  the   strong  interest  he  took  in  his  case.     He  was  taken 
into  Court  at  nine  o'clock,  and  to..k  his  seat  with  his  back  to  the  larcre 
,    audience,  but  without  having  been  in   the  least  cowed  by  tho  concj;,. 
tratcd  gaze  of  the  multitude  during  his  walk  to  it.     When  he  had  sat 
[    down  he  looked  anxiously  around.     When  Judge  Hogeboom  and  as- 
Bociates  entered,  a  look  of  d  smay  overspread  his  features,  which  was 
a  moment  later  intensified  when  District  Attorney  Hopkins  and  Attor. 
noy  General  Champlain  came  in  and  took  their  seats.     But  the  next 
moment  a  sudden  change   swept  over  his  face,  which  was  at  once 
ill-.mincd  with  hope  and  confidence,  as  his  counsel,  Mr.  George  Becker 
entered,  accompanied  by  Hon.  Charles  F.  Beales,  of  Hudson^  who  had 
been  secured  to  assist  in  his  defence.     With  the  appearance  of  these 
gentlemen  the  wearisome  duties  of  the  day  began.     The  first  task  was 
of  course  the  selection  of  a  jury,  and  owing  to  the  great  excitement 
the  case    ad  caused  through  all  that  region,  it  was^one  involving  * 
gieatdealof  time.     Everybody  had  heard  and  read  of  the  case  had 
formed  and  expressed  an  opinion,  so  tlie  rigid  rule  was  not  adhered  to. 
Judge  Ilogeboom  sensibly  remarked  that  in  this  age  of  the  world  it  i« 
impossible  to  find  men  of  any  intelligence  who  hav°e  not  read  the  news! 
pap  rs  and  learned  something  of  any  important  case.     Juries  worth 
anythmg  must  be  got  from  such  classes  or  not  at  all,  and  the  r, 
herefore,  must  be  that  when  anyone  summoned  as  a  ji  ror  is  found    o 
have  no  settled  opinion  of  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  believes  h  mse 

nin?r  :"'  r  ^^P^^J"*^^-'  ^-  -  --Petent,  notwithstanding  any 
opinio,,  he  may  have  previously  formed  or  expressed.  Thanks  to  the 
adop,.onof  this  sensible  rule,  to  which  the  defence  took  no  ex^    i  m, 

yny  was  completed  without  the  prisoner's  exhausting  hi    rH    of 
pereniptorvo.hnll.Jtirro  K,r  fl.,„  „>^i^_i-   i      .,         ,      .  o     '"  n^noui 

Ln»,         •   -----i-f.^-   o^  .=vc  -.J  ciOeA,  uy  the  selection  of  the  followinr' 
gentlemen:  Hiram  A.   Mosher,   Emory  Truesdale,   John  C    RTiik' 

^:  oT%f  7  ^tfi,^^^^^^^  ^^^"^'^'  ^^-  «-'^^-«>  John  li '; 

Ldgar  O.  Smith,  Frank  Phmkett,  Isaac  W.  Heath,  Johi  W.  TravU. 


It 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


During  the  seven  hours  of  monotonous  labor  consumed  in-  tins  task, 
the  audience^  which  was  largely  composed  of  ladies,  waited  with  unwea- 
ried patience  for  the  more  interesting  aspects  oftheca.se.  But  the  pro- 
ceedings were  occasionally  enlivened  by  outre  replies  of  jurors,  and  the 
strong  wit  of  Judge  Hogeboom,  provoked  by  more  than  usua!ly  dense 
Biypidity.  For  instance,  a  juror  having  answered  the  question,  "  Has 
what  you  iiave  heard  or  read  left  any  bias  for  or  against  the  prisoner?" 
with  "I  don't  kiunv  that  it  has,"  Judge  Hogeboom  instantly  rattled , 
out,  "  I  don't  know  that  it  has,  but  has  ic  ?  "  and  under  tliis  terse  put- 
ing  of  his  indecision  the  juror  became  contused  and  was  rejected.  The 
panel  was  exhausted  wlien  eleven  of  the  jury  had  been  secured,  and 
ih©  twelith  man  waa  obtained  with  the  summoniug  of  three  taiesuiea. 


CnAPTER  XXI. 


THE   P£    »PLE   ALLEGE. 

J"cDaE  IIoGEBooM  having  a  primitive  idea  that  the  time  of  public  ser- 
vants belongs  to  the  pul  lie,  altliough  it  was  5  o'clock  wlieu  the  twolftli 
juror  was  sworn,  Mr.  Ilopkins  was  rei^uirod  to  proceed  with  the  opei)ing 
of  the  case  for  the  prosecution,  and  .nost  thorouglily  did  ho  ])erfurm 
that  duty.  Beginning  with  a  tew  general  remarks  usual  on  such  occa- 
sions, regarding  the  saoredness  of  the  duty  resting  upon  the  jury,  ho 
rapidly  pi-eseuted  the  facts  of  the  murder,  as  they  have  been  given  to  the 
reader,  and  passed  to  the  circumstantial  evidence  against  Eu'lolF.  Fir-st, 
ho  detailed  the  capture  of  the  prisoner,  under  most  suspicious  circuin- 
Btances,  in  the  out-house,  where  ho  had  crouched  for  two  hours  after  ho 
was  seen  Avalking,  at  the  dea<l  of  night,  on  the  railroad  t-  ack,  and  covered 
by  a  passing  freight  train  at  the  moment  he  was  challenged  by  the  guard, 
had  mysteriously  di8appoared.  Then  he  proceeded  to  tell  how  the  bodies 
of  the  two  men,  ca-t  up  by  the  Chenango  Eiver,  hud  been  identified  in 
Yarious  ways,  as  those  of  Albert  T.  Jarvis,  alias  Charles  O.  Curtis,  ami 
Wm.  T.  Dexter,  alias  Davenport.  Then  presenting  the  indubitable  proola 
that  these  men  were  two  of  the  thr'^e  burglars  who  entered  the  store  of 
Ilalbert  Brothers,  and  killed  the  clerk,  Frederick  A.  Mirrick,  ho  passed 


i;    over  hi: 


n-  tins  task, 
vhh  unwea- 
»ut  the  pro- 
)rs,  and  the 
ua!ly  dense 
itioii,  "  Has 
prisoner  ?  " 
itly  rattled, 
8  terse  put- 
eoled.  The 
icnred,  and 
i  taiusiuea. 


r  public  ser- 

1  the  twolf'tli 

the  opeijing 

ho  ]»orfurm 

I  such  occa- 

the  jury,  ho 

givou  to  the 

.!1()1F.     Fir.st, 

lulls  clrcuiii- 

)iirs  after  he 

ami  covered 

)y  the  guard, 

iw  the  bodies 

identified  in 

■.  Curtis,  ami 

)itnbleproola 

the  store  of 

;k,  ho  paasod 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  ^73 

to  the  connection,  prior  to  the  tragedy,  of  the  prisoner  with  the  dead  men 
In  coming  to  this  vital  point  in  thp  case,  Mr.  Hopkins  said  that,  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  when  and  how  the  acquaintance  between  Jarvis  and 
EuUofT  commenced,  and  not  with  the  intent  of  reviving  the  memory  of  an 
old  crime  to  the  prejudice  of  the  prisoner,  he  must  go  back  to  the  year 
1857.     Instantly  RullofF  half  rose  from  his  chair,  and,  plucking  his  coun- 
sel Mr.  Becker,  by  the  sleeve  with  spasmodic  energy,  whispered  rapidly 
m  his  ear,  and  before  Mr.  Hopkins  could  begin  another  sentence,  Mr 
Becker  luso  and  objected  to  the  prosecution  going  beyond  the  case  on 
tnaL     Judge  Hogeboom  «aid  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  prophesy  what 
the  District-Attorney  was  goii^g  to  say,  or  to  decide  a  question  before  it 
existed,  but  he  presumed  it  was  the  intention  to  keep  within  the  rule 
Mr.  Hopkins  haying  thus  compelled  the  defence  to  show  to  all  the  worid 
how  httle  the  prisoner  could  afford  a  scrutiny  of  the  past,  went  on  to  nar- 
rate  one  of  the  saddest  episodes  of  crime  ever  told  in  a  court-room 
Having  said  that  RullofF,  in  1857,  was  confined  in  the  jail  of  Tompkina 
county  on  a  charge  of  t}xe  murder  of  his  child,  he  showed  how  the  pris- 
oner speedily  so  won  the  sympathy  and  confidence  of  the  jailer,  Jarvis 
and  his  wife,  that  they  trusted  their  son,  then  a  prattUng.  innocent  ruddy 
boy,  m  his  company.     The  prisoner  whiled  away  his  time  in  teaching  the 
son  of  his  jailer  in  the  language,  and  then  and  there  began  the  conman- 
lonship  which  ended  with  the  horror  In  Halbert's  store,  when  Jarvis  flitted 
away  a  few  rods  to  meet  his  death  in  the  dark  Chenango  waters,  and 
RullolTshnked  through  by-ways  for  a  few  hours  on  his  road  to  his  doom. 
Ihe  origin  of  the  companionship  with  Dexter  was  not  bo  clearly  alleged. 
but  the  fact  vras  as  distinctly  stated. 

Two  facts  to  prove  the  presence  of  the  prisoner  at  the  scene  of  the 
murder  were  brought  into  bold  relief,  but  the  most  convincing  was  the 
shoo  found  m  the  store,  which  exactly  fitted  the  malformed  foot  of  Rulloff. 
and  ,vhich  Mr.  Hopkins  claimed  would  fit  no  other  foot  in  the  State. 
But  beyond  this  startling  fact  he  said  he  would  prove  that  the  prisoner 
left  tae  house.  No.  170  Tlurd  Avenue,  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  of 
August  wearnig  t)ie  identical  pair  of  shoes  found  in  the  store.  The 
second  fact  was  equally  conclusive,  for  it  was  claimed  that  in  the  cast- 
away  carpet-bag  found  in  the  remote  field,  was  a  copy  of  the  Nm  Tori 
Jnnen,  with  an  article  a  column  long  cut  out  of  it,  and  that  in  the  desk 
of  the  prisoner  m  Third  Avenue,  a  slip  was  found  which  exactly  fitted 
the  space,  which,  being  an  article  on  the  Prussian  policy,  which,  upon 
exananing  an  unmutilated  copy  of  the  issue  of  the  paper,' was  found  to 
belong  m_  the  space.  The  mention  of  this  fact  was  evidently  a  revelation 
to  the  prisoner,  for  he  started  in  his  seat,  and  a  spasm  of  dread  passed 
over  his  laco.    The  shoo  fact  he  had  long;  known,  and  admitted  its  foro* 


74 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 


against  him,  but  thia  newspaper  slip  was  a  link  in  the  chain  of  evidence 
against  him  which  had  boon  forged  without  his  knowledge. 

The  writer  has  heard  many  addresses  to  juries  on  occasions  similar  to 

tliis,  but  none  more  effective,  compact,  und  powerful  than  that  concluded 

by  Mr.  Hopkins,  after  speaking  lilty-four  minutes,  with  anotlier  stab  at 

the  reputation  of  the  prisoner,  by  a  reference  to  his  trial  for  tlie  murder 

of  his  child  in  Tioga  county,  fourteen  years  ago,  when  he  was  finally 

acquitted,  after  protracted  litigation,  upon  a  legal  quibble — the  body  of 

the  child  had  never  been  found,  and  execution  of  judgment  could  not  be 

had.     "In  this  case,"  said  Mr.  Hopkins,   "there  will  be  no  reversal  of 

your  verdict  because  the  body  of  the  crime  is  wanting."     With  terrible 

force,  and  great  efl'ect  upon  the  jury,  Mr.  Hopkins  assumed  as  a  fact  that 

the  prisoner  had  murdered  his  own  child,  and  dwelt  upon  what  might 

have  been,  but  for  the  rule  of  law  requiring  the  production  of  a  body 

before  conviction  for  murder.     The  young,  innocent  boy  Jarvis,  would  not 

have  been  led  into  temptation,  and  to  a  felon's  death  at  last.     Fredorick 

A.  Merrick  would  not  have  died  as  heroes  die,  defending  liis  trust,  and 

Jiis  widowed  mother  would  not  have  been  bowed  with  the  weight  of  an 

untimely  sorrow.     But  more  than  all,  Eulloff  would  not  be  occupying 

the  attention  of  his  honor.  Judge  Hogeboom,  of  the  jury,  and  of  the  vast 

audience,  as  he  would  long  ago  have  begun  to  test  the  realities  of  the 

world  beyond  human  life.     Having  thus  adroitly  infonned  the  jury  that 

Rulloff  would  have  been  hanged  long  ago  but  for  the  interposition  of  a 

legal  technicality,  Mr.  Hopkins  sat  down. 


i 


CEAPl'EE  XXII. 

THE  PEOPLE  BEGIN  TO  PROVE 

Ok  the  morning  of  the  second  day  of  the  trial  thousands  of  eager 
applicants  for  places  to  witness  the  proceedings  beseiged  the  doors 
long  before  the  hour  appointed  for  the  assembling  of  the  Court, 
and  the  doors  were  no  sooner  opened  than  every  inch  of  available  space 
was  instantly  filled.  As  on  i,he  previous  days,  a  large  portion  of  the 
audience  was  composed  of  ladies,  hundreds  of  whom  stood  patl^'utlj  for 
hours  listening  with  seemingly  unwearied  interest  to  thm  details  of  «»vi- 
dence,  with  the  outlines  of  which  they  had  long  been  f»viiliar.  The 
character  of  the  whole  audience  was  most  remarkable,  and  ir  presented 
a  moat  favorable  contrast  to  assomblases  collected  by  similar  occasAuus  in 


a  of  evidence 

jna  similar  to 
lat  concluded 
lotlier  stab  at 
r  tlie  murder 
)  was  finally 
-the  body  of 

could  not  be 
)  reversal  of 
kVitli  terrible 
as  a  fact  that 

what  might 
)n  of  a  body 
ds,  would  not 
;.  Frederic  k 
lis  trust,  and 
weight  of  an 
)e  occuiiying 
d  of  the  vast 
alities  of  the 
;he  jury  that 
pusitioa  of  a 


ids  of  eager 
i  the  doors 
the  Court, 
ilabl"  space 
rtion  of  the 
pati'^utlj  for 
itaila  of  *vi- 
niliar.  The 
k  presented 
uucasi«^s  in 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  75 

I      New  York.     There  was  not  a  man  present  who  bore  any  resemblance  to 

our  roughs,  nor  one  of  the  hundreds  of  woiuon  who  did  not  seem  a  lady 

in  the  true  meaning  of  that  much  abused  word.     The  demeanor  of  the 

,      audience  was  in  keeping  with  its  appearance,  and  Sheriff  Martin  was 

•      never  called  upon  to  do  more  than  suppress  occasional  ripples  of  subdued 

i     (conversation,  which  in  metropolitan  courts  would  pass  without  rebuke 

So  the  decorum  proper  to  the  occasion  was  easily  maintained,  and  the 

proceedmgs  never  delayed  by  disorder. 

The  presentation  of  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  be-an  with  tha 
opening  of  the  Court,  the  first  witness  sworn  being  Mr  Gnbert  S  Bur 
roughs  the  surviving  clerk.     He  told  the  str.ry  of  that  desperate  encoun- 
ter in  the  store  of  D  M  &  E.  G.  H.lbert,  about  half  past  two  o'clock  on 
the  mornmg  of  Wednesday,  Aug.  17,  with  three  burglars,  which  is  now 
famihar  to  the  reader.     His  narrative  of  the  ^:o.ht  of  the  two  young  men 
with  the  three  burglars,  was  direct,  forcible,  interesting,  dramatic,  and  so 
clear,  that  every  person  present  poriectly  understood  every  event  from  the 
moment  the  two  clerks,  waking  up,  saw  the  three  burglars  standin-  near 
their  bed,  and  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  leading  to  the  basement,  up  to  -he 
moment  when  the  third  man  coming  up  the  stairs  to  the  rescue  of  his  im- 
penled  coinrades  fired  three  shots  at  Burroughs,  an,l  then,  rushing  up  to 
Mirnck,  who  had  a  burglar  in  his  grasp,  put  his  left  hand  on  Mb-rick's 
neck,  and  holding  a  pistol  close  to  the  back  of  his  head,  fiioJ   the  fatal 
Blio.,  and  then  with  his  comrades  ran  out  by  the  back  c'oor 

The  witness  was  in  the  middle  of  his  story,  and  was  identifyin-.  the 

ZT  "".k'V.      r^  t''  burglarious  appliances  found  in  the  store. 

together  with  the  shoes,  hats  and  other  articles,  when  Ralloff  suddenly! 

arose  and  made  a  great  sensation  by  interposing  a  legal  objection  to  the 

ntroduotion    of   th.   testimony.      Ignoring   his   counsel  'entirely,  and 

«teppmg  forward,  m  a  voice  slightly  quavering,  as  it   seemed,  but  in 

no  way  moved  by  excitement,  he  state]   the  rule  of  common  ikw,  that 

he  was  H.4  *^^.r*bl«  for  the  acts  of  others  ,iniil  he  had  been  clearly 

connectod  ..«.  them  ;  and,  therefore,  until  it  was  shown  that  he  was  one 

ot  the  three  men  who  entered  the  store,  it  was  not  admis  Jhle  for  the 

nrov«  «  tl     1    r  ^'^^  ^''"  '"'"""^  ''  ^''^^'1  ^^^'^  b««'^  impossible  to 
Z  in  tan:,     '   "?'"^  ""'  "'"^^^^'  '"^  '^'^'  ^"t-boom,  il  his  lucid 

ItLnevn   '.''.•'""  '"'  ''  *'^  ^^^"''*^  ^y  -yi"fe' that  District 
Attorney  Hopk :  ns  m  h.s  opening  had  stated  that  it  was  intended  t.;  ,..|early 
conn..,,  the  prisoner  with  the  other  two  burglars,  both  remotely  and  very 
.liortbj  belor.-  'h«  tragedy,  and  the  evidence  was.  thereU,  Ith  '        ' 
mi,sible.      Rulloff  persisted  with  resolute  deterniination  in  his  nl 

to  enter  mum  «  lonj»*ViT»o-~..« ^  _<<  ^i  .    ,  .       _    .       ..  "' " 

''         s-v  «-o"^"^"tui  iiiiJ point,  DuiJuuge  llugoboom  said 


7ft 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 


the  principle  was  too  familiar  for  discussion,  and  directed  the  examinalioB 
of  the  witness  to  proceed. 

When  Mr.  Burroughs  was  turned  over  to  tho  defence,  Mr.  Becker  said 
thfil;  liuUofi'  would  conduct  the  cross-examination,  which  he  accordingly 
did,  and  very  soon  developed  the  line  of  defence  to  be  simply  an  endeavor 
to  reduce  the  degree  of  crime,  by  showing  that  tht  shooting  by  the  burg- 
lar  had  been  provoked  by  the  vnnecesaury  violence  of  Burrouglis  and 
Mirrick.     Mr.  Leales  stated  the  rule  of  law  to  be  that,  under  such  circum- 
stances,  persons  are  justified  in  using  only  so  i.iuch  viohmco  as  may  bo 
necessary  to  secure  the  person  of  the  burglars,  and  if  they  go  beyond 
that,  and  inflict  deadly  injuries,  they  are  amenable  to  the  law  for  the 
death,  just  as  though  the  person  killed  had  not  been  engaged  at  the  time 
of  receiving  the  injuries  in  the  commission  of  a  felony.     The  State  did 
not  care  to  dispute  the  proposition,  and  RuUofT  conducting  the  cross-ex- 
amination chietly  to  this  point,  succeeded  in  showing  that  the  two  clerks 
made  as  plucky  a  fight  as  employees  ever  did  for  the  property  in  their 
charge,  and  for  a  time  so  entirely  disabled  Dexter  that  they  could  have 
done  as  tlicy  pleased  with  him  but  for  the  return  of  his  two  confederates. 
He  showed,  lurther,  that  the  clerks  did  not  use  any  great  care  to  avoid 
injuring  Dexter  alias  Davenport,  when  he  was  lelt  in  their  hands  by  the 
retreat  of  his  two  comrades.     When  the  clerks  awoke  the  three  burglars 
stood  near  the  bod.     Mirrick  attempted  to  fire  his  pistol,  but  it  snapped 
twice.     Two  of  the  burglars  ran  down  stairs,  tlie  other  struck  Burroughs 
with  an  iron  bar,  the  struggle  followed,  Burrouglis  threw  the  burglar, 
struck  him  with  the  b  '.r  which  he  had  wrenched  from  him,  the  burglar 
cried  for  help,  the  other  two  ran  back,  and  the  murder  followed.     There 
was  one  small  gas-light  burning  in  the  store  near  the  scene  of  the  con- 
flict, and  BuiToughs,  in  his  examination  in  chief,  stated  that  he  distinctly 
saw  the  person  and  face  of  the  burglar  who  fired  the  shots  at  him  coming 
up  the  stairs  and  afterward  murdered  Mirrick,  and,  to  the  best  of  his 
knowledge  and  belief  that  person  was  the  prisoner.     There  was  the  large 
face ;  full,  straggling  board ;    short,  broad  figure  of  RuUoff,  .as  he  saw 
the?  t  alter  his  arrest,  but,  as  always  before,  he  refused  to  positively  iden- 
tify him.      EuUoff,  going  to  this  point  in  the  cross-examination,  asked 
very  many  questions  tending  to  confuse  and  break  down  this  testimony. 
Among  tlie  others,  Kulloff  asked,  "  How  much  light  was  there  m  the 
store?"  to  which  Burroughs  naturally  and  innocently  replied,  "Well,  I 
can't  say ;  you  know  how  much  light  there  was."     This  assumption  that 
his  questioner  was  present  at  the  scene,  liad  e  ^ual  knowledge  of  the  facts 
with  the  witness,  was  taken  by  the  audience,  and  a  loud,  long  roar  of  ap- 
plause  followed,  which  Judge  Hogeboom  sternly  rebt.l  ol      Rulloff  con- 
iruntad  this  manifestation  of  the  popular  delight  at  his  suppooud  discom- 


i  the  examinaiioa 

Mr.  Becker  said 
h  he  accordingly 
iply  an  endeavor 
ting  by  the  burg- 
'  Buirouglis  and 
ider  auch  circum- 
l(!nco  as  may  bo 

they  go  beyond 

the  law  for  the 
;aged  at  the  time 
The  State  did 
ng  the  cros3-ox- 
it  the  two  clerks 
l)roporty  in  their 
they  could  have 
wo  confederates. 
»at  care  to  avoid 
L'ir  hands  bv  the 
e  throe  burglars 
.,  but  it  snapped 
ruck  Burroughs 
liw  the  burglar, 
liin,  the  burglar 
allowed.     There 
:;ene  of  the  con- 
liat  he  distinctly 
3  at  him  coming 
the  best  of  his 
re  was  the  largo 
lloff,  as  he  saw 

positively  iden- 
niination,  asked 

this  testimony. 
as  there  iu  the 
iplied,  "  Well,  I 
issumpt'.on  that 
idge  of  the  facts 
long  roar  of  ap- 
l  RuUoff  con- 
.ppOoud  discom- 


J 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 


77 


fiture  entirely  unmoved,    liot  a  muscle  of  his  face  moved,  and  when  the 
uproar  had  subsided  he  returned  as  steadily  as  if  nothing  had  occurred, 
to  the  point.     The  only  signs  of  agitation  he  exhibited  were  drops  of 
sweat  beading  his  forehead  and  thick  neck,  but  as  these  could  only  be 
seen  by  those  near  to  him,  he  seemed  utterly  unmoved  by  his  trying 
po8iti(jn  to  the  distant  observers.      In  the  afternoon   session  the  State 
produced  evidence  as   to  the  character  of  certain  short-hand   writing, 
the  key  of  which  had  been  found  on  the  person  of  one  of  the  drowned 
men,  and  both  of  which  had  been  provod  by  Judge  Boardman  to  be  in 
the  handwriting  of  the  prisoner,  when  RuUoff  again  ignored  his  coun- 
sol,  and  urged  in   another  speech  the  legal  point  he  had  advanced  in 
the  morning.     When  he  began  there   was  a  marked   difference   from 
Lis  manner  earlier  in  the   day.     His   voice   was  weak,  unmanageable, 
and  his    nervous    s\stem   was   so   plainly   shaken   that  the   fact  was 
observable   to   every  one.     Ho   was   himself  fully  aware   of  it,  as   he 
began  with  an  apology  for  his  condition,  and  by  pleading  in  excuse  for 
It  that  he  was  battling  for  his  Hfe,  elicited  the  first  spark  of  sympathy 
he  had  obtained.     Being  then  heard  respectfully,  he  went  on  to  urge  that 
the  papers  were  inadmissible  because  the  prosecution  had  not  proved,  nor 
offered  to  prove,  when,  or  under  what  circumstances,  they  left  his  posses- 
8:on  and  went  into  that  of  the  dead  man.    The  oo-  ^piracy,  he  said,  had  nat 
been  fully  proved.     The  State  had  established  that  three  men  were  felon- 
lov^sJy  w  tlie  store  of  Halbert  Brothers,  and  for  what  they  did  there  they 
were  answerable,  but  the  question  was  who  were  those  three  men      He 
denied  the  right  of  the  State  to  claim  that  he  was  one  of  them,  because  a 
paper  m  his  handwriting  wat,  found  upon  the  person  of  a  drowned  man 
who  was  assumed  to  be  oiie  of  the  burglars.     Certainly,  he  said,  it  would 
not  be  tak.-n  as  evidence  against  him  if  the  paper  left  his  possession  five 
years  or  even  five  weeks  before  the  crime  ;  })ut  as  the  prosecution  were 
unable  to  show  when  it  left  his  possession,  it  was  clearlv  not  competent. 
Ihe  nervousness  of  the  prisoner  increased  as  he  proceeded,  and  he  at  last 
seized  three  law  books,  with  which  he  .ought  to  illustrate  the  relative 
legal  position  of  the  three  burglars,  only  one  of  whom  was  upon  trial. 
J  udgo  llogeboom  answered  the  .  ■  •:M.^ent  by  admitting  the  iestimony  for 
^•hat  It  was  worth,  saying  it  w,  u  or  <  ■  of  those  circumstances  by  which  the 
Btate  sought  to  show  some  sore  of  connection  or  intercourse  t  tween  the 
prisoner  and  one  of  the  drowned  men,  who  was  .ssumed  to  have  been  one 
ot  the  burglars,  and  it  must,  therefore,  go  to  the  jury  for  what  it  waa 
worth,  wlreh  it  did,  with  the  exception  of  Rulloff  noted. 

One  of  the  principal  witnesses  of  the  afternoon  was  Mr.  James  Flynn, 
^hmi  of  tiie  Binghamton  Police,  who  detailed  his  extraordinarve.arti.ms 
to  tapturo  iho  burglars  after  tiieir  escape  from  the  store,  by'stationing 


■.  l^<lf\tf\U^t\llfll^ 


78 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


guards  at  every  outlet  from  the  city,  and  large  patrols  on  every  street  aiid 
lane.  The  principal  part  of  his  evidence,  however,  waa  when  he  came  to 
identify  manuscripts,  burglar's  tools,  false  faces,  and  many  other  articles 
■which  had  been  delivered  to  him  by  Detective  Reilley,  of  New  York,  and 
which  the  letter  had  taken  from  the  room  of  Eullolf,  at  No.  170  Third 
Avenue.  Amon;^  these  articles  wus  the  slip,  seven-eighths  of  a  column  iu 
length,  cut  irom  a  copy  of  the  JVow-York  Times  of  July  18,  1870,  which 
had  been  found  in  a  valise  found  in  a  field  here,  and  identified  as  belong- 
ing  to  the  prisoner.  The  mutilated  newspaper  caused  a  profound  sensa- 
tion.  It  was  exhibited,  and  the  jury  shown  how  exactly  the  slip  found  in 
the  prisoner's  desk  fitted  the  space  left  by  cutting  out  tlie  article.  One 
of  the  claims  of  the  State  was  thus  made  good,  and  it.  was  established 
that  a  valise  belon[,'ii  g;  to  the  prisoner  had  been  found  near  the  scene  of 
the  murder,  which  contained  a  copy  of  the  Times  which  had  been  mu- 
tilated in  the  room  of  Euouard  Leurio,  at  No.  170  Third  Avenue,  by  the 
cutting  out  of  an  article  which  had  been  left  behind  in  t!ie  desk  of  the 
philologist.  The  next,  and  a  most  important  witness  was  Capt.  Henry 
Hedden,  of  the  15th  New  York  Police  Precinct,  who  detailed  how  he  had 
sought  and  found  the  residence  of  the  prisoner,  and  there  secured  all  the 
numerous  articles  referred  to  by  Flynn,  without  which,  and  the  witnesses 
secured  by  him,  the  State  would  have  no  case. 

Edward  C.  Jakob  was  then  introduced,  and  identified  the  prisoner  as  a 
man  who  had  rented  a  floor  in  his  father's  house  at  No.  170  Third  Ave- 
nue, under  the  name  of  Lourio,  and  by  a  photograph  shown  him  identi- 
fied the  drowned  burglar  Jarvis  as  the  man  wuo  had  lived  with  Leurio 
under  the  name  of  Charles  G.  Curtiss.  Upon  these  important  points 
young  Jakob  was  not  shaken  by  cross-examination,  but  upon  the  identity 
of  the  shoes  and  the  valine  he  was  not  equally  positive.  The  prisoner  he 
oaid  had  usually  worn  Oxford  ties  similar  to  the  shoes  found  at  the  scene 
of  the  murder,  and  the  valise  found  was  like  one  he  had  seen  in  the  pris- 
oner's possession  prior  to  his  leaving  the  house.  Long  ago  it  is  reported, 
BuUoff  said  in  conversiation  that,  if  it  were  not  for  that  shoe,  he  would 
Deal;  the  District  Attorney,  and  he  certainly  showed  himself  of  that  opin- 
ion by  his  vigorous  and  earnest  cross-examination  of  this  witness.  His 
efforts  were  principally  directed  to  making  Jakob  state  tliat  he  had  worn 
boots  when  last  at  the  house,  and  at  lact  stepping  close  up  to  the  witness, 
and  speaking  in  a  voice  so  low  that  no  one  heard  him  but  the  person  ad- 
dressed, he  asked,  •'  Will  you  swear  I  did  not  havo  on  boots  when  you 
saw  me  last  at  the  house  ?"  to  which  Jakob  answered  that  he  could  not 
HO  swear,  nor  could  he  swear  to  the  contrary.  The  manuscript  book  on 
language  was  exhibited  to  the  witness,  and  identified  by  him  as  in  the 
handwriting  of  the  prisoner,  and  the  work  on  which  he  had  seen  him 


i 

ry  street  and 
n  he  came  to 
>thor  articles 
w  York,  and 
[o.  170  Third 
f  a  column  iu 

1870,  which 
id  as  belong- 
)fouud  seusa- 
slixi  found  in 
article.  One 
s  established 

the  scene  of 
ad  been  mu- 
^enue,  by  the 

desk  of  the 

Capt.  Henry 
1  how  he  had 
)cured  all  the 
the  witnesses 

prisoner  as  a 

0  Third  Ave- 
n  him  identi- 

with  Leurio 
ortant  pointa 
a  the  identity 
e  prisoner  he 

1  at  the  scene 
n  in  the  pris- 
it  ia  reported, 
oe,  he  would 
of  that  opin- 

vitness.  His 
he  had  worn 
3  the  witness, 
he  person  ad- 
3t3  when  you 
he  could  not 
cript  book  on 
lim  as  iu  the 
Kn.(l  Rpian  him 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


79 


engaged  for  ft  long  time  whUe  in  the  house,  and,  tj-ith  the  conclusion  of 
this  evidence,  the  Court  adjourned  after  a  session  of  five  hours,  making 
the  labor  of  the  day  nme  hours. 

During  the  examination  of  the  last  witnesses,  EuhoS  steadily  i.dhered 
to  his  practice  of  letting  his  counsel,  Mr.  Becker  and  Mr.  Beales,  rest  iu 
idleness  while  he  conducted  hia  ovvu  defence.     He  several  times  again 
insisted  on  the  point  of  law  he  had  presented,  and  was  as  often  overruled 
by  Judge  Hogeboom,  when  he  would  enter  an  exception  and  go  oa 
Twice  he  produced  a  decided  sensation;  once  by  exclaiming,  when  Capt' 
lJ«ddon  left  the  stand,  after  identifying  the  large  and  complete  assortment 
of  [jurglar's  tools  found  in  his  desk  :-'«  The  next  witness  will  be  one  who 
knows  me  nmoty-nine  days  in  a  hundred,"  in  which,  however,  he  was  dis- 
appointed,  as  the  witness  knew  no  good  whatever  of  him.     The  second 
sensation  was  his  cat-like  approach  and  whispering  question  to  young 
Jakob,  when  the  vaat  audience  rose  and  boat  forward  as  one  man  to  see 
and  hear. 


ii 


CHAPTEE  XXIII. 

PROOF  OP  THE  PEOPLE  FBRFBCTBD. 

^      As  the  next  rivet  in  the  chain  of  circumstantial  evidence  the  State  was 
^  I^^rgmg  around  the  prisoner,  Edward  Jakob  was  recalled  to  prove  that 
-,  tJio  watch  and  spectacles  found  upon  the  larger  drowned  man,  belonged  to 
•  Charles  G.  Curtiss,  alias  Albert  T.  Jarvis,  who  had  lived  at  170  Third  Ave- 
:  nuo,  with  Rulloff,  alias  Leurio.     The  watch,  he  swore  to,  to  the  best  of  his 
I  knowledge,  and  the  spectacles  he  swore  to  positively,  as  he  idenlified  them 
I  ^^^^7;^  ^'''^  f  t^«  gl^««««-     Mrs.  Brady  was  the  next  witness,  and 
I  tostified  she  rented  the  two  upper  floors  of  the  house  No.  10  Graham 
Avenue,  Wilhamsburgh,  which  belonged  to  the  Dexter  family-Mrs.  Dex- 
ter, Wm  T.  Dexter,  and  John  N.  Dexter.     She  paid  her  rent  always  to 
T  a  man  Uiey  knew  as  Jim  Howard,  and  pointed  out  the  prisoner  as  the 
^H:m.    He  always  came  to  the  house  on  the  first  of  the  month  for  the 
r,  ut,  and  came  last  on  the  7th  of  August,  since  which  time  she  had  never 
^cou  him  until  she  saw  him  in  Court.     She  then  paid  him  for  August 
and  sinoe  that  time  no  one  had  oaUed  to  collect  the  rent.     She  last  saw 

^r  "■  I'  f'^^'",  ''''  *^^  ^*^  ^^  ^^^^'* '  ^'  ^^^  ^*  ^^^^  «^  ^^^  ^d,  went 
^^awaj  lor  lour  days,  when  he  eun).e  back,  and  having  changed  lus  clothee, 


so 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 


wont  away,  sinco  which  time  she  had  never  seen  him.  Miss  Pauline  Ja^ob, 
fifteen  years  of  age,  was  next  sworn,  and  testified  that  sue  lived  with 
her  parents  at  No.  170  Third  Av«nue,  and  knew  that  the  prisoner,  aa 
Edouard  Leurio,  rented  a  floor  iii  the  house,  which  he  occupied  with  a 
man  her  family  know  as  Charles  G.  Curtiss,  but  who  is  proved  to  be 
Albert  T.  Jarvis,  the  drowned  burglar.  She  identified  the  prisoner  ns 
L«urio,  and  the  picture  of  Jarvis  as  that  of  the  man  Cuvti^s  who  had 
lived  with  the  prisoner.  She  was  shown  several  pairs  of  drawers  which 
were  in  the  valise  found  in  the  swamp,  and  identified  them  all  by  tho 
mark  J.  A.  in  indelible  ink,  which  she  had  seen  Jarvis  put  on  them,  and 
wondered  at  the  time  why  he  did  it,  as  his  name  was  Curtiss.  John  N. 
Dextor,  a  brother  of  one  of  the  d' owned  men,  was  sworn,  and  testified 
that  he  know  the  prisoner,  as  Jim  H(»ward,  and  knew  that  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  his  brother,  William  T.  Dexter,  whom  he  recognized  as  the 
smaller  of  the  two  men  in  the  photograph  of  the  drowned  burglars.  He 
had  frequently  seen  his  brother  in  company  with  the  prisoner,  and  once 
saw  both  of  them  with  Jurvis.  Mrs.  Helen  Ward  well,  a  sister  of  Albert 
T.  Jarvis,  who  lives  at  Heart's  Falls,  twelve  miles  from  Trt)y,  identified 
a  letter  directed  to  "Albert  T.  Jarvis,  No.  170  Tliird  Avenue,  New  York 
City,"  which  arrived  at  that  place  the  next  day  after  Leurio  and  Curtiss 
left  the  house,  as  testified  to  by  Miss  Jakob,  who  had  received  the  letter 
and  kept  it  in  charge  unopened  until  Capt.  Hedden  seized  all  the  articles 
in  the  room  on  the  evening  of  October  15.  Mrs.  Wardwell  testified  she 
wrote  the  letter  on  the  14th  of  August,  mailed  it  (as  was  shown  by  tao 
post-mark  of  August  15),  and  that  she  had  never  received  an  answer  to 
it  nor  heard  of  her  brother  alive  since  that  date.  The  time  of  the  de- 
parture of  the  prisoner  and  Jarvis,  alias  Curtiss,  from  the  house  of  No. 
170  Third  Avenue,  was  thus  fixed  by  this  lettar,  and  the  testimony  of 
Pauline  and  Edward  Jakob  as  Monday,  August  15.  Miss  Jakob  swore 
they  loft  in  the  morning. 

From  this  point  forward  the  case  dragged  for  two  hours,  and  by  means 
of  several  witnesses  through  facts  before  adduced  in  evidence  and  familiar 
to  the  public,  only  relieved  by  the  testimony  of  Mr.  S.  H.  Sweet,  a  shoe- 
maker, who  had  tried  the  shoes  found  in  the  store  on  the  feet  of  Eulloff, 
and  found  that  they  fitted  him  precisely.  His  left  foot  is  deformed  by 
three  large  proturberances  on  the  out.side,  and  the  large  toe  being  gone ; 
the  left  shoe  of  the  Oxford  ties  found  in  the  store  had  a  raised  surface  to 
fit  these  protuberances,  and  a  depression  which  would  have  naturally  been 
made  by  want  of  a  large  toe  to  hold  it  up.  This  evidence  was  strongly 
corroborated  by  Mr.  Fish,  another  person  of  large  experience  in  shoes, 
who  also  testified  that  at  the  present  time  there  are  very  few  patent  leather 
Oxford  ties,  such  as  those  found  in  the  store,  made  or  worn.     The  next 


iuline  Jaiob, 
e  lived  with 

priaoner,  aa 
ipied  with  a 
proved  to  be 

prisoner  ns 
ti.s8  who  had 
awors  which 
a  all  by  the 
)n  them,  and 
13.  John  N. 
and  testified 
;  he  was  ao- 
^nized  as  the 
irglars.  He 
Br,  and  once 
:er  of  Albert 
)y,  identified 
>,  NoAV  York 

and  Curtisa 
ed  the  letter 
I  the  articles 
testified  sho 
liown  by  tae 
m  answer  to 
e  of  the  de- 
louse  of  No. 
testimony  of 
Fakob  swore 

nd  by  means 
and  familiar 
veot,  a  shoe- 
it  of  Eulloff, 
deformed  by 
being  gone; 
3d  surface  to 
iturally  been 
vas  strongly 
ice  in  shoes, 
a  tent  leather 
I.    The  next 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LiVEg. 


n 


important  witness  was  Mr.  E.  8.  Spaulding,  who  testified  that  on  tho  af* 
tornoon  of  Tuesday,  August  10,  between  two  and  four  o'clock,  while  cross- 
ing the  bridge  of  the  Erie  Eailway  over  the  Clienango  river  in  Bingliam- 
tou,  he  mot  a  man  to  whom  his  atteuiion  was  particularly  attracted  by 
tlie  singularity  of  his  gait,  caused  by  his  favoring  his  left  foot.     As  th« 
man  got  near  him  he  stepped  upon  the  stringers  to  allow  tho  man  to  pass, 
and  as  lie  got  abreast,  Mr.  Spaulding  said  "  Good-day,  sir ; "  the  man 
stared  liim  in  the  face,  made  no  reply,  and  passed  on.     Tho  man  had  on 
«  silk  hat,  dark  coat  and  pants,  white  socks,  low  shoos,  and  carried  an 
umbrella  and  a  satchel,  and  he  then  swore  positively  that  the  man  he  thus 
met  near  tlie  scene  of  the  tragedy,  a  few  hours  before  tho  occurr<*nce, 
was  tlie  prisoner,  Edward  II.  Kulloff,  who,  when  captured  a  few  hours 
ttfterward,  was  dressed,  and  had  the  articles  described.     On  cross-exam- 
ination Mr.  Spaulding  said  he  first  knew  Eulloff  twenty-five  years  ago, 
before  his  marriage,  when  he  was  a  clerk  in  a  drug  store  in  Ithaca,  and 
there  knew  him  well,  because  he  did  business  with  him.     EuKoff  next 
was  a  school  teacher  at  Caroline,  Tompkins  county,  and  he  did  not  see 
him  after  that,  until  he  saw  Lim  twelve  or  thirteen  years  ago  in  the  State's 
Prison,  after  which  he  never  met  him  again  until  he  met  him  on  the 
bridge.     The  witness  was  subjected  to  the  most  rigid  cross-examination 
by  Mr.  Beales  and  Mr.  Becker,  but  he  unflinchingly  adhered  to  his  story, 
and  resolutely  maintained  that  the  man  with  the  halting  stop  and  of  sin. 
giilar  silence,  whom  he  met  on  the  Chenango  bridge  on  the  afternoon  of 
Tuesday,  August  16,  was,  and  could  be  no  other  than  the  prisoner,  Ed- 
ward II.  RuUofr. 

Public  curiosity  increased  with  feeding,  and  although  tlio  main  portion 
of  the  evidence  of  the  State  had  been  produced,  and  the  facts  bearing 
against  t!ie  prisoner  fully  known,  there  was  no  diminution  in  the  crowds 
demanding  admission  to  witness  the  proceedings  of  the  fifth  day,  when 
Piiilip  Eeilley  being  sworn,  said: — Tliat  he  resides  in  Now  York,  and  is 
a  Police  Olficer  attached  to  the  Fifteenth  Police  Precinct.  Being  shown 
a  bunch  of  small  keys,  taken  from  the  body  of  the  smaller  of  the  two 
drowned  burglars,  he  said  on  finding  and  visiting  the  house  No.  10  Gra- 
ham Avenue,  Brooklyn,  E  D.,  occupied  by  Mrs.  Brady  and  the  Dexter 
family,  he  found  the  larger  of  the  thiee  keys  to  unlock  a  bureau  drawer, 
the  next  largest  unlocked  a  small  trunk  in  the  drawer,  aad  tho  smallest 
a  portfolio,  also  in  the  drawer.  In  the  trunk  he  found  a  letter,  which 
lias  been  identified  as  in  the  hand-writing  of  the  prisoner,  and  addressed 
to  William  T.  Dexter.  The  State  offered  the  letter  in  evidence  to  prove 
the  former  acquaintance  of  Eulloff  with  one  of  the  burghxrs,  whom 
ho  had  said  he  had  never  seen,  and  the  defence  objected  because  it  waa 


I 


82 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 


dated  in  1805,  but  the  If-tter  was  admitted  by  Judge  ITogebnnm.  Drlcc- 
live  lloilloy  then  went  on  to  state  that  he  had  visited  the  house  No  170 
Third  Avonuo  with  Capt.  Iledden,  unlocking  the  street  door  of  the 
house  with  a  key  given  him  by  District-Attornoy  Hopkins,  and  the  door 
of  the  room  with  another  key,  also  given  him  l)y  that  gontlonian.  On 
searching  tho  desk  in  the  room  of  RuUolT,  alias  Louvio,  lie  found  in  the 
middle  drawer  a  ratchet  drill,  two  skeleton  keys,  three  lock  picks,  a  dark 
lantern,  a  box-opener,  and  other  articles  for  a  felonious  pur[)ose. 
i  Upon  cross-examination,  EuUofF  himself  fastened  upori  Roilley  to  ex- 
plain that  ratchet  drill,  and  tho  witness  said  it  had  tho  general  appear- 
ance of  that  implement,  although  without  teeth,  and  the  prisoner  Ihon 
with  permission  explained  that  the  instrument  wag  valuable  and  inte- 
resting as  tho  model  of  a  new  invention,  but  it  appeared  upon  redirect 
that  in  tho  same  drawer  were  two  dozen  bits  which  fitted  this  "model." 
Mr.  Reilloy  further  testified,  on  cross-oxaiuination,  that  he  know  a  great 
many  thieves  and  their  haunts  in  Now  York,  but  had  never  heard  of 
either  RuUoff  or  Jarvis,  and  tho  place  where  they  Uvod,  No.  170  Third 
Avenue,  was  a  highly  respectable  neighborhood,  and  the  Jakob  family, 
from  whom  they  rented  their  rooms,  are  of  the  very  best  repute,  and  held 
their  lodgers  ia  the  highest  esteem  as  men  of  pure  lives  and  doTnestio 
habits.  Mr.  Reilley,  however,  said  that  h«  did  not  pratend  to  know  all 
the  thieves  in  New  York. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  8TBUQGLB  OF  THB  PEI80NEB. 

With  the  examination  of  numerous  other  witnesses  on  points  less  im- 
portant, the  prosecution  closed,  and  George  Becker,  Esq.,  opened  tho  oase 
for  the  defence,  in  a  sp  *ech  wliinh  made  the  best  of  a  very  bad  case.  In 
the  beginning  he  referred  to  tlie  great  It  araing,  ability  and  industry  of 
his  client,  the  prisoner,  whom,  he  said,  had,  during  his  career,  met  every 
sorrow  and  calamity.  He  referred  to  the  great  activity  of  tho  District- 
Attorney  in  gathering  witnesses,  to  do  which  he  had  had  the  treasury  of 
the  County  of  Broome  at  his  disposal.  His  client,  he  said,  has  not  only 
to  encounter  the  energy  of  Mr.  Hopkins,  backed  with  money,  but  also 
the  highest  legal  authority  in  the  State,  Attorney -General  Champlain 


having  been        nn; 

pri.soiur.      II  n       rtl 

and  gt'noriil  tli       ai 

Bcckor  tli«  n  went  o 

inolFins'ivt'  eld  man, 

ing  in  tlu*  boHOm  of 

ties  of  tho  defeiu't',  < 

pel,  having  been  en 

niDiiy  for  the  State, 

done,  was  not  murd 

or  thinl  dngroo,  bet 

mission  of  a  felony, 

fol(»n,  and  that  tho  i 

daring  what  the  do 

tliat  it  was  nlinost  v 

Coroner  that  tiie  pri 

that  on  tlio  evening 

his  store  and  asked 

man  ho  held  to  be  I 

lofl'  has  been  in  jail, 

to  be  a  drover  from 

bo  able  to  sliow  whi 

Batavia,  Buffalo,  anc 

have  biH'u  in  the  Citj 

Several  witnesses  ■ 

not  answer.     Francii 

ceeding  the  trac^ody, '. 

tify  either  of  the  burj 

and  his  inability  to  g 

Chirk  was  sworn,  w' 

Amoricrm  Hotel,  a  fc 

from  Halbort's  stort 

cession;  he  got  up,  a 

after  Avh.ich  BiuTii.ig 

heard  tho  cry  "  niun 

is  uiiini'iiurtant.  until 

store  a  moment  or  t\\ 

to  go  around  to  the  li 

door  was  locked;  Ch 

iroiit  door  and  knew 

opua  and  they  went  i 


M 


niE  MAN  OF  TWO  L1VE3. 


83 


ni 


bnving;  booTi  -dti  onod  to  Bssist  'n  hurrvinu:  on  a  Tenlkt  rj^ainst  th« 
pri.soiur.  lie  rfluT  lias  to  fncotmtcr  a  j^jiuliir  projudiijo  more  intense 
and  general  tli,  ms  prisoner  ovi  wns  '  -lUcd  .  •  ^  confront  boforo,  Mr. 
IJockor  tli«  u  went  on  l<'  dnnv  a  llnttfri  ,f  his  client  as  a  mild, 

inolFt-ns^ive  old  man,  of  Rtndiuus  and  vaiU  ,  live  habitw,  npondinjif  hia  evon- 
ing  in  thn  bunoiu  of  the  Jakob  fauiiiy,  reading  unu  writing.  Tho  difficul- 
ties of  tho  d(>fen(<>,  owi.ig  to  *'  absonoo  of  witnesHt-s  and  additional  coun- 
Pfil,  havinj,'  l^oon  enuii  ratoi  \Ir.  lU'(;l<er  procoodod  to  roviow  the  testi- 
niDiiy  for  the  State,  and  claimed  that  tho  killing  of  Mirrick,  by  whoever 
done,  was  not  murder,  but  at  the  worst  only  manshiii;>liter  in  the  second 
or  third  dn{,pee,  because  Mirrick  himself,  when  killed,  was  in  the  com- 
niissiou  of  a  Iclony,  in  using  unnecoss  iry  violence  upon  an  iiiterneptod 
felon,  and  that  tho  slaying  was  done  to  ness  thai  violence.     In  de- 

claring what  the  dofeuoo  expected  to  be  .lolo  to  prove,  ]Mr.  Becker  eaid 
that  it  was  almost  wholly  upon  the  testimony  of  J.  B.  Lewis  hofore  tho 
Coroner  that  the  prisoner  was  hold      On  that  occasion  IS'.   .  Lewis  swore 
that  on  the  evening  of  the  IGth  August,  a  man  in  labcning  dress  entered 
his  store  and  asked  for  tho  best  whiskey,  without  reg  ird  to  price,  which 
man  ho  held  to  bo  Edward  II.  RuUoff.     Sinco  that  time,  and  while  Eul- 
loff  has  been  in  jail,  tho  same  man  has  appeared  in  his  store,  and  proves 
to  be  a  drover  from  tho  West.     Further,  Mr.  Becker  said  that  they  would 
bo  able  to  show  when  tho  prisoner  left  Now  York,  and  that  he  went  to 
Batavia,  Bud'alo,  and  other  places,  so  that  it  is  inipos.siblo  that  ho  should 
have  biK'n  in  the  City  of  Binghamton  on  tho  night  of  the  IGth  of  August. 
Several  witnesses  were  then  called  for  the  dofenc^e,  most  of  whom  did 
not  answer.     Francis  L.  Farnham  testified  tliat  during  the  morning  suc- 
ceeding tho  trajrody,  Burroughs  had  told  him  in  tho  store  he  could  not  iden- 
tify either  of  the  burglars.     Further  to  show  the  confusion  of  Burroughs 
and  his  inability  to  give  an  intelligent  account  of  what  happened,  Lyman 
Clark  was  sworn,  who  testified  that  ho  was  sitting  at  the  door  of  the 
Aniorican  Ilotel,  a  few  doors  above  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street 
from  llalbert's  stine,  when  ho  heart  two  pistol-shots  fired  in  quick  suc- 
cession;  he  got  lip,  walk(Kl  down  tho  street,  and  heard  another  shot,  just 
after  v^liich  BiuToaghs  opened  tho  front  door  of  the  etoro,  came  out,  and 
heard  the  cry  "  murder."     He  gave  an  acccmnt  of  what  followed,  which 
is  unimportant,  uulil  Chief  Flynn  and  Clark  were  about  to  go  into  the 
store  a  moment  or  two  later,  when  Burroughs  told  them  they  would  have 
to  go  around  to  the  back  door,  as  he  had  come  out  that  Avay,  and  the  front 
door  was  locked;  Clark  said  he  had  just  scon  Burroughs  come  out  tha 
Iront  door  and  knew  it  was  open,  wliereupon  tho  front  door  was  pushed 
opuu  and  they  went  iu;  after  tUoy  went  iu,  Biirruughs  remembered  that 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


he  did  come  out  by  the  front  door.    After  a  number  of  other  witne«8W 
.  1VT     .Y!^        ^""^  ^''''''^  wanting,  the  defence  put  Mrs.  Martha  Brady, 
of  No.  10  Graham  Ave.,  Brooklyn,  E.  D.,  on  the  stand,  and  RnllofT  pro- 
ceeded to  question  her  as  to  her  knowledge  of  a  woman  named  Hai?i?erty 
who,  It  presently  appeared,  had  annoyed  Mrs.  Brady  by  dissolute  con- 
duct in  the  house,  and  caused  her  arrest,  whereupon  EuUoff  was  annoyed 
and  reproved  her  sharply,  as  he  had  just  procured  the  discharge  of  the 
woman  from  the  Penitentiary.     Tiie  object  of  this  testimony  was  to  show 
malice  on  the  part  of  the  witness  who  had  been  sworn  for  the  prosecution 
against  the  defendant.     After  the  examination  of  several  other  witnesses 
0  the  point  of  the  groat  excitement  of  Burroughs,  immediately  after  the 
tragedy,  with  a  view  to  break  down  his  testimony,  the  Court  adjourned. 

i^xpected  from  the  remarks  made  at  the  close  of  the  session  to  be  the 
last,  the  sixth  day  of  the  famous  trial  v^aa  begun  with  a  far  larger  audi- 
ence tlian  either  of  its  predecessors,  notwithstanding  the  day  wus  one  of 
the  coldest  of  late  years,  and  it  involved  something  of  peril  to  face  the 
keen  January  air.     The  defence  was  prompt  in  bringing  forward  such 
scraps  of  testimony  as  they  had.     Mr.  J.  B.  Lewis,  who  was  expected  to 
testify  how  he  had  been  mistaken  in  the  identity  of  a  man  who  pur- 
chased  liquor  of  him,  as  stated  yesterday,  was  first  called.     Before  the 
Coroner  he  swore  the  mnn  was  Eullofi;  but  he  had  since  seen  a  man  who 
said  he  was  a  drover  from  the  West,  who  makes  occasional  visits  to  Bing. 
hamton,  who  called  himself  Baxter.     Mr.  Lewis  said,  however,  that  he 
was  not  sure  whether  he  was  the  same  man  who  was  in  his  store  on  the 
evening  of  the  murder;  and  upon  cross-examination  he  said  lie  was  yet 
convinced  that  it  was  the  prisoner  who  entered  his  store  and  bought  the 
hquor      Thoroughly  discomfited  by  the  first  effort  of  the  day  to  prove 
something  favorable  to  the  prisoner,  Mr.  Becker  traveled  off  into  a  dis- 
cussion as  to  the  possible  relative  positions  of  the  burglars  and  their  an- 
tagonists during  the  struggle,  as  judged  from  the  holes  of  the  pistol  shots 
m  the  walls,  desiring  to  show  that  one  which  struck  the  wall  six  feet  from 
the  floor  had  been  fired  from  nearer  the  front  door  than  the  head  of  the 
stairs,  which  fact  would  invalidate  Burroughs'  evidence  that  all  had  been 
fired  Willie  the  burglar  was  coming  up  the  stairs  except  the  one  which 
killed  Mirrick.  ,^  When  Mr.  Lewis  E.  King  was  stating  emphaticallv  that 
when  himself  and  Burroughs  stood  before  the  door  of  Eulloff's  ceil  the 
prisoner  unhesitatingly  picked  out  Burroughs  by  the  direction  of  his 
voice  and  eyes,  a  round  of  applause  burst  from  the  audience  for  the  third 
time  during  the  trial.     Mr.  Beales  at  this  arose,  and  in  a  few  eloquent 
romarks  referred  to  those  manifestations  of  popular  prejudice,  and  askod 
the  protection  of  the  Court  for  the  prisouer.     Judge  Hogeboom,  in  reply, 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


85 


said  that  he  could  apologize  for  the  iudi 


ignation  of  an  honest  public,  not, 
aahe  beheved,  against  the  prisoner,  but  at  an  enormous  crime;  yet  this 
was  a  Court  uf  Justice,  not  a  popular  assemblage,  and  a  place  where  the 
auditors  were  not  privileged  in  any  way  to  participate  in  the  procuodings. 
He  was  therefore  compelled  to  reprove  these  manifeatations  of  public 
feeling,  and  to  insist  that  they  should  not  be  repeated. 

A  long  pause  ensued,  caused  by  the  absence  of  witnesses  called  by  the 
defence;   and,  witli  the  understanding  that  certain  medical  testimony 
should  be  taken  when  the  physicians  arrived,  EuUoflf  arose  and  retumt^d 
to  his  pet  idea,  with  a  motion  to  strike  out  all  evidence  as  to  the  identifi- 
cation  of  Dexter  and  Jarvis,  because  there  was  no  testimony  of  a  conspi- 
racy  between  him  and  them  to  commit  the  crime.     Reading  the  case  of 
The  People  vs.  Thorns,  in  Third  Parker's  Criminal  Reports,  he  proceeded 
to  argue  the  point.     Judge  Ilogehoom  speedily  interrupted  him,  and  re- 
lerred  to  the  evidence  of  Burroughs  that  the  prisoner,  to  the  best  of  his 
kno^vlorlge,  was  one  of  the  threo  burglar8,and  that  the  evidence  of  the 
shoes  also  connected  him  with  the  crime.    Rulloff  was  utterly  unabashed 
by  this  revelation  of  the  opinion  of  the  Qourt,  which  was  lutal  to  his 
hopes,  and  went  on  with  such  calmness  and  clearness  that  a  utranger 
could  not  have  supposed  that  he  was  arguing  for  himself.     Mr.  Beales 
then  followed  in  a  masterly,  eloquent  and  affecting  speech  in  support  of 
tae  motion,  at  the  conclusion  of  winch  Judge  Hogeboom  denied  it,  sayin- 
that  all  the  evidence  must  go  to  the  jury,  and  upon  it  they  must  pass  on 
the  life  or  death  of  the  prisoner.     Rulloff  then  moved  that  the  prosecu- 
tion  be  stopped  and  the  Court  order  an  acquittal,  because  the  facts  did  not 
Bhow  a  murder  or  any  general  form  of  manslaughter,  and  the  indictment 
did  not  charge  the  special  form  of  manslaighter  which  it  was  claimed  the 
facts  disclosed.    Mr.  Beales  argued  the  point,  reviewing  the  facta  that  the 
attack  was  begun  by  the  clerks;  that  two  of  the  burglars  fled,  and  the 
third  was  overpowered  by  the  clerks  who  were  engaged  in  dispatching 
him,  and  in  so  doing  were  committing  the  crime  of  manslaughter  in  the 
fi^^cond  degree,  which  reduced  the   offence   of  the   person   who   killed    | 
Mirrick  to  the  same  rank.     Judge  Hogeboom  denied  the  motion  peremp-     < 
torily,  saying  that  the  indictment  was  broad  enough  to  cover  all  the 
grades  of  homicide,  and  that  he  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  withdraw  the 
case  in  any  of  its  aspects  from  the  jury.     In  referring  to  the  conduct  of 
the  clerks,  Judge  Hogeboom  asked  what  were  they  to  do,  and  stated 
plainly  that  rliey  had  the  right  to  kill  all  three  of  the  felons  to  prevent 
the  commission  of  the  felony  in  which  they  were  engaged.     And  further, 
the  Judge  referred  pointedly  to  the  fact,  tliat  the  two  felons  ran  back 
into  the  store,  and  asked  why  they  did  so. 


86 


THE  MAX  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


The  defence  then  called  Dr.  Burr,  who  examined  the  foot  of  the 
prisoner,  in  the  presence  of  the  jury  and  audience,  with  the  view  of 
showing  that  it  was  not  a  malformed  foot,  but  t!ie  examination  was 
conclusive  of  the  fact  that  the  large  toe  was  gone.     With  this  testi- 
mony, and  that  of  a  few  others  to  equally  trivial  facts,  even  to  having 
a  witness  exhibit  a  malformed   foot,   the  defence  rested,   without 
having  disproved  a  single  panicle  of  the  evidence  of  the  pi-osecution, 
and  without  attempting  to  explain  any  one  of  the  suspicious  circum' 
r»tances  surrounding  the  accused.     Upon  such  a  case  as  this,  with  the 
1  nmense   audience  confronii.ig  him  animated  by  an  intensely  bitter 
feeling  against  his  cause,  Mr.  Beales  rose  to  address  the  jury  in  tlio 
closing  argument  for  the  defence.     Ilis  argument  was  commenced  with 
an  enumeration  of  the  difficulties  encountered  by  the  defense,  promi- 
nent  among  which  he  ranked  the  popular  prejudice  against  the  prisoner. 
Having  dwelt  upon  these  topics,  he  passed  to  the  testimony,  admittin.r, 
while  attempting  to  explain  away  the  facts  of  the  arrest,  that  the  pris* 
oner  was  acquainted  with   and  an  associate  of  Albert  T.  Jarvis  and 
Wm.  T.  Dexter.     He  also  'admitted  tliat  the  proof  was  suffioient  to 
show  that  these  two  men  were  two  of  the  three  burglars  engaged  in 
the  crime.     The  greater  portion  of  his  address,  however,  was  devoted 
to  depreciating  the  evidence  of  Gilbert  I.  Burroughs,  the  only  eye- 
witness of  the  crime.     His  statements  wore  analyzed  in  detail,  and 
many  of  them  claimed  to  be  not  only  conflicting,  but  improbable  in 
themselves.     Counsel  claimed,  further,  that  Burroughs  was  in  such 
condition  of  frenzy  that  he  was  unable  to  give  a  true,  coherent  account 
of  what  passed  in  the  store.     Mr.  Beales  then  passed  on  to  attempt  to 
explain  many  other  suspicious  acts  of  the  prisoner,  including  his  sin- 
gular recognition  of  Burroughs  when  the  latter  was  first  taken  to  his 
cell.     After  a  pause  of  a  few  minutes,  Mr.  ]5eales  went  on  to  sketch 
the  quiet,  domestic,  harmless  life  of  the   prisoner  at  No.  170  Third 
Avenue,  his  great  natural  ability,  his  high   self  acquired  literary  at- 
tainments, and  being  utterly  unknown  to  tlie  police  of  New  York;  he 
claimed  that  it  was  absurd  to  s'.ipposethat  this  mm  h;id  such  a  dou'ble 
character  thath**  could  bn  the  thief;  l)urglar,aud  murderer,  as  a«.serted 
by  the  State.    The  presence  of  tlie  bunrlars'  tools  in  RullofTs  desk 
WAS  attempted  to  be  explained  by  the  alleged  fact  that  they  had  been 
put  tliere  after  Uulloflf  left,  and  were  placed  there  for  the  purpose  of 
affording  the  reqnir.-d  proofs  of  criminal  habits.     The  question  of  the 
shoe  was  then  taken  up,  and  it  was  claimed  that  there  was  no  positive 
evidence  that  the  shoe  for  a  deformed  foot  found  in  the  store  had  ever 
been  worn  by  the  prisoner.    The  testimony  of  Mr.  Spaulding,  who 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVEb.  g^ 

mot  the  prisoner  on  the  Chenango  bridge  on  the  afternoon  of  August 
16.  was  next  commented  on  .  and  counsel  claimed  that  the  story  was  so 
extraordinary  and  improbable  in  itself  as  to  be  utterly  unworthy  of 
credence.  Upon  the  leg-.I  aspect  of  the  case  Mr.  Beales  claimed  that 
the  offence  committed  in  Halbert's  store,  on  the  morningof  he  i7th  of 
August,  by  whoever  committed,  was  nothing  more  than  manslaughter 

'^""^°'J"•^,  ^'^''''  '^^^  ^'"''^  '^'^-^  that  there  wL  no 
mahce  toward  Mirnck,  who  was  a  stranger  to  the  slayer,  and  hat 
there  was  no  design  to  take  life,  as  the  only  purpose  of\he  intruder 
finng  the  ^K,t  was  to  secure  the  release  of  his^omrade,  then  held  by 
Mmick.  Mr.  Beales  continued  his  review  or  the  testimony  at  great 
engih,  and  did  not  conclude  until  he  had  spoken  ibur  hours 
I  IS  speech,  as  a  forensic  effort,  was  admirable,  but  as  an  argument 
It  wa.  without  effect.  Mr.  Beales  .eemed  to  feel  the  hopelessniss  oThl 
cause,  for  he  concluded  with  the  beautiful  allegory  of  fhe TeTtion  of 
man  at  the  prayer  of  Mercy,  and  picturing  the  lonely,  frienXs  pen' 
mless  prisoner  at  th,.  ;  .r,  asked  the  jury  to  temper  jus  ice  with  meLy. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  TRIUMPH   OF  JUSTTCB. 

BT^orT.MTON  Will  long  remember  that  seventh  morning  of  the  great 
b    n"    l^T""^'^  P^'P^'  ^''^'''^^  notwithstanding  the  bitter  cod 
before  the  Court-house  doors  long  before  the  hour  for  the    ess  on  to' 
begin,  and  the  vast  Court-room  was  no  sooner  opened  than  VwTs  filled 
to  IS  utmost  capacity  by  persons  of  both  sexes  and  aH  ollr 
anxious  to  witness  the  closing  proceeding  of Tirm:l:l!leTJ^^^^^ 

Attorney-General  Champlain  began  his  appeal  to  the  jury  upon  the 

'  iXof  h,-I    ffi  •  ,'"'■''  '^''  ^'  ^''''^^'  *«  the  case  the  great 

^^c ,ght  of  h,8  official   position,  was  uncalled  for,  as  he"  canie  fn  no 

ffic  a,  ,obes,  and  appealed  only  to  the  reason  and  best  judZnent  o' 

~zv  '""z '"' '''  '^^^^-  ""''  ^'-"^  of  popular  ;:•:,: 

ny  pS  L  in?-^rr  ''"  P'^P"^'-  indignation  was  not  again 
d^Cmi    ^  /;r';"'l^"'  ^^TT  "'^^^'^'^  ^""^^  which  someone 
der  .rr       'i        "^  "'^  ""'"'"'"^  'h^  very  foundations  of  public  or- 
der and  personal  security.     In  reference  to  the  presence  of  ladls  at  the 
tnal,  the  Attorney-General  said  their  curiosity'was-  natural  ts^  2 


88 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


?  • 


most  extraordinary  man  of  the  age  in  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  who  has 
liad  no  cause  in  the  pa8t  to  complain  of  the  administration  of  justice, 
nor  of  the  conduct  of  the  present  trial,  in  which  he  has  been  accorded 
every  right,  nay,  every  privilege,  even  to  that  of  his  personal  partici- 
pation in  the  proceedings.  Nor  is  it  now  intended,  nor  has  it  ever 
been,  to  try  this  man  on  public  prejudice,  but  upon  the  law  and  the 
evidence.  Thus  tested,  the  intent  of  the  person  who  shot  Mirrick  was 
a  primal  consideration,  and  it  is  the  theory  of  the  prosecution  that  the 
murder  was  premeditated  from  the  very  start,  as  burglars  have  always 
the  latent  design  to  slay  any  one  who  may  a'.tempt  to  intercept  them. 
In  examining  the  incidents  of  this  crime,  it  was  apparent  that  the 
murder  was  premeditated  and  malicious,  if  ever  murder  was.  As  to 
the  conspiracy,  the  prosecution  claims  it  has  been  thoroughly  estab- 
lished, and  the  legal  result  is,  that  each  and  all  engaged  in  the  crime 
are  equally  guilty,  no  matter  who  actually  fired  the  shot. 

The  Attorney-General  then  began  a  review  of  the  testimony,  begin- 
ning with  the  companionship  of  Rulloff  and  Jarvis  at  No.  170  Third 
Avenue,  where  they  were  known   as  Edouard  Leurio  and  Charles  Q 
Curtiss,  but  beyond  the  portals  of  that  home  they  were  known  as  Ed- 
ward C.  Howard  and  Charles  G.  Thompson.     The  prisoner  further  be- 
comes James  E.  Dalton  in  Cortland  County,  where  Wm.  T,  Dexter  is 
Wm.  Davenport.     Here  is  the  starting   point,  and  from  here  begins 
that  chain  of  damning  evidence  wound  around  the  prisoner  by  the  skill 
and  energy  of  District  Attorney  Hopkins,  Captain  Flynn,  Cliief  of  the 
Binghamton  Police,  Captain  Hedden,  of  the  New  York  Police,  and  of 
Officer  Reilley,     The  prisoner,  stealing  out  of  the  city  at  the  dead 
hour  of  the  night,  himself  gave      idence  of  his  presence  at  tHe  scene 
of  the  tragedy,  and  the  Chenangv*  river  gave  up  its  dead  to  prove  that 
Jarvis  and  Dexter  were  also  present  at  the  scene,  in  connection  witii 
which  the  many  articles   by  which  the   bodies  of  the  two  men  were 
identified  were  rapidly  enumerated.     The  scrap  of  stenographic  writ- 
ing in  the  hand  of  Rulloff,  found   upon  Dexter,  was  claimed  to  be  a 
means  of  communication  between  the   conspirators,  as  the  expert  on 
the  stand  had  sworn  that  it  was  unlike  anyone  ofthe  two  hundred  sys- 
tems he  had  examined,  and  it  was  claimed  that  the  cipher  was  the  in- 
vention  of  this  learned  and  mysterious  prisoner.     With  all  the  proof* 
in  the  case  it  is  incontrovertible  that  Dexter  and  Jarvis  were  two  of  the 
burglars,  and  the  great  question  if  Rulloff  was  the  other  is  answered 
affirmatively  by  all  the  facts  and  circumstanceH  of  the  case,  but  most 
of  all  by  the  shoes  found  on  the  premises,  and  by  the  fact  that  he  has 
not  attempted  to  prove  where  ho  was  when  the  tragedy  was  enacted. 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES.  89 

The  prJioner  is  a  man  of  great  learning,  shrewdness,  and  legal  acumen 
knowing  perfectly  the  weight  of  circumstances,  and  would  have  de- 
stroyed them  by  opposite  testimony  if  it  had  been  in  his  power  to  do 
so.    Mr.  Champlam,  having  thus  shown  that  Doxter  and  Jarvis  were 
in  the  store,  said  it  was  possible  now  to  do  justice  to  the  evidence  of 
Burroughs,  who  identifies  Rulloff  as  the  third  burglar;  for  who  else 
should  be  there  but  this  strange,  fascinating  master  of  crime,  with  his 
two  pupils  and  accomplices  ?    The  testimony  of  Burroughs  was  then 
analyzed  with  great  force,  and  shown  to  be  consistent,  intelligible 
and  coherent,  in  the  course  of  which  the  claim  of  the  defence  that  the' 
clerks  had  med  undue  violence  was  scorned  as  a  legal  fact,  for  the 
burglars  were  outlaws,  and  there  is  no  rule  of  law  to  measure  exactly 
the  degree  of  violence  proper  to  overcome  such  outlaws  on  such  occa- 
sions.   The  evidence  of  Burroughs  was  convincing,  but  even  without 
It  the  prisoner  had  been  bound  to  his  crime  by  circumstantial  evidence 
stronger  than  was  ever  forged  before,  and  the  crime  was  murder  in  the 
first  degree.    Having  spoken  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes.  Attorney- 
General  Champlam  concluded  one  of  the  most  powerfully  cogent  argu- 
raents  ever  delivered  in  a  murder  case,  with  an  impassioned  appeal  to 
the  juij  not  to  stay  the  avenging  hand  of  the  law  uplifted  over  tho 
head  of  the  prisoner. 

Judge  Hogeboom  then   proceeded  to  charge  the  jury.    Havine 
given  the  statutory  definitions  of  the  various  grades  of  homicide,  he 
sauithat  the  consideration  of  the  facts  in  every  case  where  murder  in 
the  first  degree  is  proven,  is  always  solemn  and  interestincr,  but  is  pecu- 
larly  so  m  this  case.     The  character  of  the  prisoner,  his' previous  his- 
tory, the  sudden  appearance  of  the  felons  at  the  bedside  of  the  awak- 
ened clerks,  the  grapple  for  life,  the  retreat  of  two  of  the  felons,  their 
quick  return,  the  encounter  with  Mirrick,  the  shot,  the  death,  the 
flight  the  retreat  to  the  river,  the  unseen  but  probably  instantaneous 
ngufingo    two  of  the  felons  in  Chenango  river,  the  retreat  of  the 
third  burglar  and  his  non-appearance,  unless  he  has  come  in  the  person 
of  the  prisoner,  t.he  flight  of  Rulloflf  under  cover  of  night,  his  arrest 
his  confronting  with  the  bodies  of  the  dead  burglars,  the  scene  on  thai 
occasion,  all  combined  to  make  this  one  of  the  must  remarkable  and 
interesting  cases  in  criminal  jurisprudence.     Then  coming  to  comment 
upon  the  claim  that  Mirrick  and  Burroughs  were  committing  a  crime 
eluded"-^"  "*  '^'''^''"'^  "^""^  '^®  burglars,  Judge  Hogeboom  con- 

Bo^r  himK^f  Vn?«"t,?nd  the  argument  of  the  counsel,  and  of  the  pri- 
soner himself.  It  18  claimed  that  Mirrick  and  Burroughs  were  attempt- 


00 


THE  MAN"  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


ing  to  commit  a  felony— that  is,  to  kill  one  of  these  barglars— and 
that  this  man  killed  Mirrick;  the  prisoner,  or  the  party,  whoever  he 
was,  killed  Mirnck,  to  prevent  the  execution  of  such  a  crime      Well 
gentlemen,  we  must  look  at  the  circumstances  of  this  transaction  as 
they  are.    Here  were  two  clerks,  manly  and  iaithful  sentinels  over  the 
property  ol  their  principals,  endeavoring  to  protect  the  store  from 
robbery,  and  its  contents  from  plunder,  suddenly  confronted,  in  the 
dead  ot  night,  by  thene  burglars,  three  to  two.     Are  we  to  weigh  with 
scrupulous  care  the  violence  which  these  clerks  are  to  employ  lest  thev 
should  be  charged  with  unnecessarily  killing  a  burglar  ?    Must  thev 
wait  to  have  the  store  plundered  and  themselves  killed,  before  theV 
do  anything  in  their  own  defence  ?    It  is  for  you  to  say  whether  bur- 
glars, who  break  into  a  store  and  rob  it  of  its  contents,  and  are  ex- 
posed  in  the  act,  detected,  and  likely  to  be  arrested,  will  not  commit 
niurder  to  prevent  exposure  and  conviction.     What  inference  should 
these  clerks  draw,  except  that  these  men  who  engage  in  a  felonious 
act  had  a  felonious  purpose,  and  were  probably  willino-  to  do  further 
crimes  to  consummate  their  intent.     Were  they,  I  say,  to  wait  for 
further  demonstrations  on  the  part  of  these  men  before  they  resisted 
or  attempted  to  overcome  them  ?     Will  you  then  require  that  thev 
should  be  particularly  careful  not  to  kill  the  attempted  felon  ?     Of 
course,  there  was  no  necessity  to  kill.     Do  you  befieve  these  men 
these  burglars,  had  relinquished  their  design ;  and  was  this  man  com- 
ing back  with  the   peaceful  purpose  of  preventing  injury  to  his  com- 
rade, relinquishing  all  attempts  to  plunder  the  store,  and  alll  fear  of 
exposure ;  was  he  coming  back  simply  to  rescue  his  comrade's  life  from 
the  attack  of  Mirrick  ? 

No,  but    gentlemen,   a   person  who   unnecessarily   kills    another 
while    resisting    an    attempt    by    euch    other  person   to  commit  a 
feJony,  is  himself  guilty  of  manslaughter  in  the  second  degree.     But 
before  you  shall  hold  these  clerks  responsible  for  crime  on  that  niirht 
or  convict  them  of  a  felonious  purpose,  you  should  be  careful  to  inves- 
tigate the  facts,  and  bring  your  mind  satisfactorily  to  such  a  conclu- 
sion.    Burglars  who  break  into  a  store  are  noc  entitled  to  have  the 
most  innocent  construction  put  upon  their  purposes.     Burc<lars  who 
appear  at  the  bedside  of  sleeping  clerks  are  not  entitled  to°the  most 
careful  handling  of  their  persons  lest  some  injury  be  done  to  them     It 
was  proper  for  the  clerks  to  protect  their  own  lives.     It  was  proper 
for  them  to  protect  the  property  of  their  principals.     And  it  is  for  you 
to  say  whether  It  was  not  proper  for  them  to  judge  from  appearances 
as  to  the  ulterior  purposes  of  these  men,  found  under  such  circura- 
stances  in  the  store  at  night.    Now,  gentlemen,  1  have  alluded,  I  think 
to  the  main  circumstances  of  this  transaction,  and  the  case  is  now  to 
be  committed  to  you.     It  is  a  case  independent  of  the  testimony  of 
Burroughs,  mainly  depending  upon  circumstantial  evidence     That  is 
upon  facts  and  circumstances  proved  by  diflferent  witnesses,  tending 
to  show  Items  of  evidence,  which  bear  more  or  less  upon  the  probabil- 
ities of  the  case.    The  body  of  the  crime  having  been  proved,  it  is 


I 


ly,  to  wait  for 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES.  n 

entirely  proper  if  the  proof  be  satisfactory  to  you,  to  prove  the  ve^\. 

t:inlZTJT^^l''tZ'^'  Circum^taWevidencfe IsZZImo 
in  an  courts  ot  justice  Sometimes  it  is  of  the  most  satisfactory  char- 
acter, or,  in  a  multiplicity  of  incidents,  and  the  various  items  of  evl 
<lence  thus  brought  together  from  every  quarter,  and  often  convert^ 
iMg  o  a  single  point  you  find  a  body  of  facts  which  bear  wUhh^l 
.,8tihle  force  upon  the  matter  in  hand.  And  thus  circunisUn  al  e^t 
dence  when  the  circumstances  are  numerous,  and  when  thev  ten  1 
S  LVVch^^^^^^^^^^^  '""-r '  ^  body  of  evidence  of  thi  mos 

nmlr  to  W  weight  ITT'  '^'^^  '"""^  ^^^«  these  characteristics 

majestic  and  serene" in  a     the  pathw^s  of  h^^^^^^^ 

light  out  of  darkness,  and  orderCu't Yf'c^^fu  i^randro"^^^^^^^^^^ 

asserts  her  irresistible  power  in  all  the  transactions  of  mT 

Thejury  retired  a  few  minutes  after  twelve  o'clock  noon,  and  re- 
turned into  court  shortly  before  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  T^e 
prisoner  was  then  brought  from  his  cell,  and  confronted  with  the 
t«.elve  men  in  whose  breasts  his  fate  was  hidden.  The  scene  was  of 
f  h  „  rT'-  n  '''  '";  ^-Iy-«gl^ted  room,  paved  with  hundred 
of  human  faces  all  turned  with  hungering  anxiety  upon  the  jury 
here  was  sepulchral  silence  until  J.  M.  Johnson,  the  Clerk,  asked  the 

tl  r  tT;  ;''^'^''^"^"  ^'''i^^'"^^'  ^^-  y-  agreed 'upon  y^u? 
IZTf  ,  .  !'''""'*"  answered,  «  We  have."  And  then  came  the 
nmial  formal!  y  of  requesting  the  prisoner  to  arise  and  look  upon  the 
jury,  after  ,vhich  the  clerk  read   the  verdict,   finding  the  accu  ed 

mad?  Ruirff  H  ",  ^  '"\'^^"^-  ^^^'^  "^  anno'unceme:  was 
made,  Ru  lofF,  who  had  stood  staring  at  the  men  who  pronounced  hia 

ButTLrrithrb  T  f  ^ ,  "^  "^"^"^^^  overpowered  and  exhausted 
Jut  the  slight  burst  of  applause  which  followed  the  verdict,  which  was 
instantly  and  sternly  repressed  by  Judge   Hogeboom,  iervld  him 
again,  and  an  Instant  later  he  walked  away  in  charge  of  the  sheS 
mor^emotioule..  apparently  than  any  one'of  the  Lndr  d    in ": 


02 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


The  next  morning,  in  the  presence  of  an  equally  vast  multitade, 
Judge  Ilogeboom  sentenced  the  prisoner  to  be  hanged  on  the  3d  day 
of  March,  and  he  was  remanded  to  his  cell.  Thus  for  the  first  time 
justice  had  gained  an  unqualified  victory  over  this  man  who  had  for 
more  than  thirty  years  been  a  striking  proof  that  the  doctrine  of  total 
depravity  is  not  altogether  a  fallacy. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

FROM   MURDBB  TO  PHILOLOGT. 

Ox  the  26th  of  January  Judge  Hogeboom  granted  a  writ  of  error 
to  the  General  Term  o''the  Supreme  Court  for  the  Sixth  Judicial  Dis- 
trict and  Third  Judicial  Department,  to  meet  in  Albany  on  the  7th 
day  of  February,  which  writ  however  was  not  to  operate  as  a  slay  of 
proceedings.    The  sole  object  and  hope  of  the  condemned  in  this  ap- 
peal was  to  reduce  his  ofience  to  murder  in  the  second  degree,  and  be- 
lieving from  his  own  share  in  preparing  the  points  of  law  that  this  re 
suit  would  be  achieved,  he  dismissed  from  his  mind  the  long  missing 
wife  and  child,  the  strange  deaths  of  Mrs.  Schutt  and  her  infant  the 
murdered  Mirrick,  the  drowned  associates,  the  years  of  imprisonment 
and  of  wretched  liberty.     Dismissing  all  the  horrors  of  his  frj.rhtful  life 
as  completely  from  his  thoughts  as  if  they  had  never  been,  this  man 
who  was  to  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  he  should  be  dead,  sat  down 
m  his  cell  to  write  letters  to  the  newspapers  explaining  his  Method  in 
the  Formation  of  Languase.    There  have  been  several  of  these  pub- 
hshed,  but  one  being  sufficient  to  illustrate  both  the  system  and  the 
author,  it  is  now  given : 

BiNOHAMTOV,  Jan.  18,  mi. 
I  hay*  never  yet  published  one  word  in  refutation  of  error  or  of  falgehood  circulated  by  the 
Press  in  connection  witli  my  name.    It  is  not  my  purpose  to  do  so  now.    I  prefo',  if  it  so  please, 
to  remain  as  heretofore,  misunderstood  and  unknown,  an  object  of  indiscriminate  slander,  reproach 
and  execration.    But,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  no  man  this  day  upon  God's  earth  has  lived  with  a 
higher  object  than  myself,  and  few  have  accomplished  a  more  desirable  result.    Though  laboring 
under  every  disadvantage,  I  have  steadily  persisted  ;  and  even  now  a  few  words  may  be  said  byway 
of  insuring  success  to  the  work  upon  which  my  health,  my  strength,  and  all  the  best  energies  of  my 
life  have  been  expended.    That  is,  my  work  upon  M.thod  in  tr.  FosMAXiOif  of  L*NQnio> 
That  work  m«y  now  have  to  be  pablUhed  without  being  completed.    It  contains  in  the  form  of  a 
regular  treatise  most  of  the  leading  principles  cannected  with  the  formation  of  methodical  language 
Its  daiiga  was  at  om»  to  lumiri.  5.000  iUustmtlw  examples.    But  the  examples  not  being  a.  yst 


n 


aat  multitude, 
on  the  3d  day 
the  first  time 
n  who  had  for 
}ctriDe  of  total 


writ  of  error 
1  Judicial  Dia« 
ny  on  the  7th 
te  as  a  stay  of 
ned  Id  this  ap- 
egree,  and  ba- 
w  that  this  re 
)  long  missing 
ber  infant,  the 
imprisonment 
8  frightful  life 
>een,  this  man 
ead,  sat  down 
his  Method  in 
of  these  pub- 
stem  and  the 


»,  Jan.  18,  wri. 
1  circulated  by  the 
jfor,  if  it  BO  please, 
«  ilander,  reproach 
th  has  lived  with  a 
Though  laboring 
may  be  iiaid  by  way 
best  energies  of  my 
ION  OF  LANonioa, 
IB  in  the  form  of  • 
ithodical  language. 
!S  not  being  aa  jut 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 

vntgta,  iU  appIlMtlra  of  tha  prineiplca  wifhoat  th«  txamplea  mity  sot  tM  satfly  atm,  »nd  to 
prtTcat  Um  r^eeUoB  «f  tb«  work  oa  tba^  or  any  aimilar  acMunt,  ia  Um  »bi««t  of  tk«  loUowinf 
ruMrkat 

F«ndameatal  faata  ia  ralatloa  to  tha  rabjeot  ai«  tbaaa  i— 

from  the  four  and  twenty  lattera  of  a&  ordinary  alphab«rt.  without  aoine  special  method,  anoh 
elegant,  copious  and  suphonious  languagea  as  are  now  in  use  cannot  possibly  be  formed.  At  a  very 
remote  period  the  want*  of  advancing  eiviHiaUon  begettiag  the  neoeirity  fbr  such  a  Unfnage  a 
«,r.e.pondlng  method  was  deviant  That  method  wa.  in  th.  highest  degree  elegant,  ph.loeophi- 
eal  and  artistic.  Admittiiig  of  atinieroua  applioaUont,  and  being  the  only  true  by  philoaophie 
method  of  which  the  subjeet  is  susceptible,  aU  tha  leading  langnagaa  of  the  human  race  hara  since 
been  formed  npon  it ;  aa  th.  ancient  Greek,  Latin,  Sancrit,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  CelUc,  German,  French. 
KnglUh,  *c-  kti.  The  knowledge  of  the  aethod  was  tor  a  long  time  preserved  aa  a  secret  It  waa 
peculiarly  in  pos«)ssion  of  the  priests.  It  was  known  only  to  the  Initiated,  aud  never  taught  to  th. 
people  at  large.  X/nless  still  prewrved  in  som.  secret  order  it  ia  now  ratirsly  unknown.  My  man- 
.script  ia  probably  the  only  work  in  exUtenee  which  oonUins  anything  like  a  connected  atatement 
of  iu  leading  principles.  The  knowledge  of  these  principles  is  of  the  utmost  ImporUnoe  to  the 
cause  of  education,  entirely  changing  the  oUraoter  of  philological.study  aa  a  meana  of  menUl  dia. 
oipline. 

In  languages  formed  upon  this  plan,  words  are  not  merely  arbitrary  signsi  They  are  sign.,  each 
of  wbich  is  specially  and  appropriately  significant.  Their  significance  dependa  upon  certain  arti.tio 
relations,  everywhere  pervading  their  structure.  The  possibility  of  such  a  structure  dependa  upon 
rooU  susceptable  of  change,  without  loss  of  identity.  Such  rooU  and  the  mode  of  their  manlpula- 
tion  are  certainly  unknown  to  the  modern  philologist.  Bopp  and  others  merely  observe  the  pwsenoe 
of  similar  forms  in  different  languages,  or  they  merely  trace  the  course  of  such  forms  fh,m  one  Ian- 
guage  to  another.  They  do  not  show  their  origin  in  any.  By  the  knowledge  of  the.e  rooU  the  very 
origin  of  particular  words  ia  rendered  aa  perfectly  plain  and  famUiar  aa  if  we  had  made  them  our- 
selves. 

Vowel  sounds  are  the  sonorous  portion,  the  basis  of  all  spoken  language.    The  sounds  expressed 
by  other  letters  are  merely  modiflcationa  of  the  vowel  sound,  or  additions  to  It,  dividing  each  sound 
Into  syllable,  and  words,  and  distinguishing  one  word  from  another.    Mutes  and  aspiratea  (except 
S  and  Z)  have  only  a  limited  power  of  combination  with  other  consonants.    The  liquids,  aa  a  general 
rule,  possess  thU  power  in  a  high  degree,  and  may  be  placed  in  almost  any  position  between  a  vowel 
and  a  consonant ;  as  .cclp,  plac, ;  part,  trap.    The  freedom  with  which  liquid,  combine  in  thia  way 
depends  upon  the  relative  position  of  the  organ,  with  which  they  a«  spoken,  that  position  being 
generally  such  a.  easily  to  precede,  or  easily  to  foUow  the  position  required  in  speaking  other  letters 
I  prepares  them  for  an  important  part  in  the  formation  of  methodical  language,  and  in  the  manip- 
ulat^on  of  such  roots  a.  are  here  described :-"  Each  of  the  liquids,  L,  M,  N  and  R,  being  taken  as 
the  bas«  of  a  root,  a  vowel  expre«,ed  or  understood  is  necessarily  joined  with  it,  and  a  root  of  three 
elements  is  completed  by  the  addition  of  another  letter ;  suoh  other  letter  to  be  chosen  at  wUl  to 
be  different  in  different  words,  and  to  be  susceptible  of  any  modification  expediency  may  augges't  •• 
Such  roots  consisting  of  three  elements,  a  liquid,  a  vowel,  and  a  mutable,  abound  in  all  cultivated 
languages,  and  may  at  once  be  recognised  In  such  syllables  as  the  following  :-oo»,  com,  bun  sum 
PAR,  PE«,  PLi,  ALP.  ALB,  PRO,  PR.,  lEP,  eto.    At  an  eariy  period  In  the  formation  of  language,  only 
rtmple  forms  of  these  root,  were  ever  employed,  the  resulting  words  rarely  presenting  two,  or  more 
than  two  consonants  in  immediate  connection  with  each  other,  aa,  minutho,  minco  ;  dihikuo  b,, 
>.«iSH.    At  a  later  period,  the  pleasure  of  producing  complex  forms,  and  of  joining  several  conso- 
aanta  to  each  other  without  an  Intervening  vowel,  became  one  of  the  strongest  incentives  to  the  cul- 
tivafon  of  letters.    Compare  dwikbl. -dimmmh,  ftecom.  m««.    The«,  words  being  modification. 
Of  each  other.and  theM  and  the  L  being  in  them  all  tHe  sa,^  UlUr.    In  ancient  times,  the  .ech«ion 
Of  sacred  temples  and  the  leisure  of  an  intellectual  priesthood  were  devoted  to  .upplying  the  vari- 


i 


«  THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES 

ooa  nttlnni  of  tJi«  itrth  with  UniruMrM  formsd  upon  thit  pUn.    Th«  IntorMt  Ofl«««lon»llr  UkM  h 
tb«  work,  and  tha  advanUK**  multiDg  flrom  it  an  prored  by  tb«  bUtorr  ot  sfM  and  0/  nftttoiui  ta 
which  Utten  wera  aotivoJy  oultivaUd.    With  tha  dooline  of  learninf  In  tha  miJdla  ante*  all  knowl. 
e>lga  of  tha  method  waa  probably  loat.    It  haa  baan  raaervad  in  our  day  to*  a  man  ol  aorrowa  ami 
acquainted  with  gntt  alona  to  paneUata  thia  moat  intrfcata  portion  of  tha  myatnry  of  anolent  art  - 
to  rtatora  tlio  long-loat  tiecrat-  and  again  to  plaoe  philological  study  upon  tha  tame  exalted  footing 
M  when  it  ilourinhed  in  tha  aohoula  of  Qraeca  and  Roma.    M  and  N  ara  taken  aa  tha  same  latter: 
that  ia,  being  both  naaal  aouudi,  they  ara  aaaigned  to  tha  same  root,  and  ara  made  freely  inter- 
obangvable  with  each  other;  aa  in  uuttcb,  •  low  iwum;  mvit«i<,  bring  toffHJitr ;  tmukoek,  a  loud 
on*  ;  auNOKH,  upartiU.    The  four  llquida,  L,  M,  N  and  B,  therefore,  give  rise  to  but  tlirou  rooU.    But 
theie  are  roota  of  great  jiower,  and  from  thom  alone  all  the  Tarioua  word*  of  oultivatod  lauguugta 
have  been  formed.    Taken  linKly,  tha  great  power  of  theie  rooU  may,  at  once,  be  briefly  Uluitratcd. 
Regarding  either  of  tha  liquid*  ai  the  baaU  of  a  root,  it  may  be  foUowed  or  preceded  by  either  of  the 
Towele,  o,  t,  i,  o,  or  u;  aa  in  la,  le,  li,  lo,  lu  ;  al,  el,  11,  ol,  ul.     Before  or  after  any  of  theae  form* 
may  then  be  added,  the  muuble  or  third  letter  already  mentioned,  and  that  mutable  being  in  each 
oaae  euaooptiblo  of  many  changoa,.it  ia  obvioua  that  the  reiiultiu«    '  irrnn  are  numeroua.    It  ia  a(juaUy 
obviout  that  when  two  roota  are  taken  together  and  tha  yarioua  forma  of  each  are  combined  with 
the  variou*  forms  of  the  other,  the  number  of  the  resulting  oompounda  will  be  greatly  increased, 
In  fact,  each  mutable  may  in  turn  be  taken  in  connection  with  aacb  Toweland  each  liquid,  as  above 
aht^n ;  and  in  thia  way  all  possible  oombinationa  of  the  four  and  twenty  letterh  rendered  aTaUabIs 
in  the  mutliodicttl  employment  ol  three  small  roota.    Any  aontonant  whioh  ia  uot  u  liquid  is  regarded 
■a  a  mutable ;  aa  p,  b,  e,  g,  t,  d,  f,  v,  a,  a,  etc.,  eto.    Each  root  conaisting  of  three  eKmenta,  whea 
two  roots  are  manipulated  in  conneotion  with  each  other,  alx  elements  are  either  expressed  or  im. 
plied ;  that  la,  two  liquids,  two  vowels,  and  two  mutablea.    By  varioua  modillcation,  interchange, 
employment  and  rejection  of  these  kindred  and  oorrolative  words  are  made  from  the  aame  root*,  and 
with  euch  regard  to  form  that  they  may  be  always  freely  and  euphoniously  employed  in  immediate 
conneotion  with  each  other.    Most  words  are  made  by  joint  manipulation  of  two  roots,  and  by  the 
addition  of  prefixes  and  of  terminations.    The  thorough  intermingling  of  atruotural  elemeuU  re- 
•ulting  from  this  mode  of  formation,  aided  by  a  Ju.lioious  use  of  particles,  insures  to  apokon  Ian- 
guage  an  agreeable  succession  of  sounds.    Uow  much  attention  this  portion  of  the  subject  requires, 
and  how  much  it  has  r«ceived  in  the  formation  of  tha  languages  now  in  use,  will  be  appreciated  only 
by  those  whose  investigations  are  thorough.    One  great  object  ia  to  obtain  everywhere  a  due  ad- 
mixture of  liquid  and  of  mutable.    The  alternations  of  a  liquid  and  mutable  are  invariably  pleas- 
ing.   The  judicious  dUtribution  of  these  letters  amoDjf  words  frequently  employed  in  immediate 
conneotion  with  each  other  ia  an  indispensable  requUite  in  the  formation  of  euphonioua  language. 
Buch  dUtribution  is,  in  general,  effeotsd  by  plaoing  part  of  the  elemenU  of  a  root  in  one  word,  and 
part  of  them  in  some  other  word  of  like  or  of  opposite  meaning,  as  on,  ovr;  dom,  doff  ;  ih,  out; 
«1N,  Aus  ;  IN,  EX  5  III,  IK,  etc.,  etc.,  analagoua  to  a  large  olaaa  of  formations  in  which  one  of  two 
liquids  is  placed  in  one  word,  the  other  in  some  other  word  of  like  or  of  opposite  meaning;  aa  ri»t>, 
L08K  J  BIND,  loosi : -fliNDB,  LOSS  ; -  viNcio,  80LV0 ;  -  sPHiRoo.  LDO.    I'remising  that  in  general 
words  are  not  independent  fomations  ;  that  in  general  the  form  of  each  his  reference  to  the  form 
of  some  other,  and  that  in  general  their  differences  are  produced  by  variously  distributing  the  six 
elemenU  of  two  roots  taken  together,  a  few  examples  may  now  be  given  showing  the  origin  of 
particular  words  and  the  mode  of  their  formation.    Gam  and  bbh  are  two  full  roota  extensively 
employed  in  the  sense  of  together  or  apart.    From  these  rooU  remembering  that  M  -  N ;  that  tlia 
liquid  la  a  consonant  letter;  and  that  each  vowel  and  each  mutable  may  at  any  time  ba  changed  for 
any  other,  a  great  variety  of  words  may  be  formed  with  the  general  signittoation  of  ama.  together, 
or  ANA,  opart.    GiMBRiDo,m<irry,  from  OAMBnKPo,OAMao,  marry.    Akmozo.  espouie.    Ncbo,hid- 
Koo,  wed.    Lai.  habio.    Ft.  marieb.    b.  marbt. 

\  ia  the  sense  of  iogMur,  is  here  obivously  repeated.    Connected  with  these  words,  and  diflo^ 


THE  MAN  OP  TWO  LIVES. 


9S 


iBff  from  them  onljr  In  luch  oh.nff,,  „  ar.  abwlutoly  neo,...ary,  we  har.  nuneroH.  formation,  ax. 
pr«..lr«  01  rtlatlo,..hip  by  marriag. ;  «i  Oamb.o*.  any  r^Mum  by  marriagt.    Bhau. .oai.,  »uw,. 
OBooM,  DH.D..    Man.  W.,b  ;  man.  w.«.  («umpAa.)    P«xu..o..  .oc.uh.  .chwaukh  o.„e,  no- 
.u.,  NU,  Ac.  fta    Word,  exprwair.  of  ..par»t..,..j  aonum..  a(.«o.  aoo.  br.ak.   mkonumi  .m.o. 
f  RA.oo.  .,«CH.,  BH.AC,  ...A.,  o.AO..  *o.,  »o.    The  formation  of  theaa  word,  fiom  the  ,ooU 
gam  ber,  i.  ...mciently  plain.    Compare  the  auMFO.  and  the  German  cMrucA.    Kh.bbucu-  diyo.oi 
-<.  .<i«ra/.on.    The  branohe.  of  a  tree  are  formed  by  divi.lon  of  ita  trunk.    AccordiuBly.    luiiut- 
OKODA«No^-.MNCH.    TBu.OA- T«u«_  .TKu«  ,-^the  «.me  liquid,  reappeariug  m  thee  .nd  in 
lium^rou.  related  word..  ..peoially  in  Greek.    With  the  uno  of  t.cboa,  compare  the  mc  of  jUKOn. 
io.NKD,  Of  co«CT..  all  loffCher;  of  oom-.uk,  •«„,  4o..  4o.    Fork.  .l.o  are  made  by  d.vV.i<«. 
U.ace.  from  precUely  the  .ame  elemonU  a.  in  t.o«oa.  hcboh,.  xubch.,  rooacHE,  fuboa.  fobk. 
In  BBN.  D«T.s-T.».,  and  in  f.oko  the  N  liquid  of  theae  formation,  i.  «^n.   The  Uerman  oab.l 
«  fork, ,«  direotly  Irom  oam  b.b.  m  being  dropped  and  r  being  changed  into  1.    An  ABur  i.  formed 
by  bringing  iog,Uur.    The  word  l.vt  U  a  remodeling  of  ooll.ot.    Hence  among  other  formation , 

AOMKN,   MANUB.    BAND.  COMPACT,   OABO.  4o.      To.KA- XBOPP- TBOOP.  A.«.  PARTY,  aU  formed   bT 

bringing  tog,lh,r.    Th»  Engluh  ,.ord  abmt  U  dirtcily  from,  tdma,  a  (roor      And  now  observe •  The 
Hebrew  word  okddoub,  a  troop,  oonUin.  elementa  precKely  equiralent  to  tho.e  of  the  Anglo-Saxon, 
and  the  EnglUh  tookth.b.   G.ddoob.-  doobdu..-  tookthbb.    Compare  bUo  the  Greek  DBon.ooa, 
a  iJ,rong.  German.  Gkdkaho,  from  which  or  form  Goddo^b,  oboud.-  obowd.   A  brir^ing  or  a  cominff 
rooBTHEB  i.  the  very  e8.enc«  of  aU  these  words.    The  trial  of  a  cauw  i^  or  should  be.  a  procew  of 
di,cr,m,nalion,-a.  .eparating  of  one  thing  from  another.    Henoe  the  aame  toboa  is  thuroaino,  tru 
cause,.    With  like  signiHcation  the  Greek  d.ak.iko.  correspond,  to  the  Latin,  disobbho.  d.bobimi.o, 
Implying  uparation.    From  d,abb,«o  xb.tb..-kb.te.  dika.xis.-jud.x,  judfi,.    From  kbit..- 
KS.T.B  come,  the  German  bioht...  a  judge.    From  dixastk.  come,  the  Arabic  xadi.    The  bowibo 
or  seed  is  a  process  of  nparaUon.    Henoe  from  the  same  rooU  oam  be.,  .p.bma.  ,«d.  spbhmaibo. 
mv,  from  spsbmaino,  ..m.no,- Lat.  Sxm.bo.  .p  b  a.- Lat.  .pahoo.    Bbm.i.  and  spaboo  are  wordB 
in  precisely  the  same  relation  to  each  other  a.  bind  and  loo...    Compare  from  a.tu.b.  bth.i., 
a.b.  a.b,  pbxtho.  bbbathb,  bbbath.    Habvmtiho  a  crop  i.  bringing  It  together.    Hence  the  eame 
TUSOA  in  iRDOAO- Aar««/.    Compare  TB0OA0.XA«po.,cABPo,FBno.s.    The  German  words  XBBST. 
;  BBKTi,  and  sakn,  are  direct  from  spkbhaino.  or  from  the  common  roots  oah  beb.    The  English 
I  word  HAHT..T  is  directly  from  the    Latin  abi.ta.    Compare  Ariita,  AcerouM,  Harvat,  Qamer, 
I  Hoard,  d>e.    To  sow  is  to  ,caUer,:to  habv.st  i.  to  galhtr.    Observe  the  equivalent  elementa  in 
tcaturior,  tcatltr,  gather,  gamer,  and  gam  ber. 
The  foregoing  examples  are  here  unavoidably  presented  in  a  detached  form,  but  they  show  tht 
\  great  fact  of  »remarkabU  recurrence  of  the  ,am,  eUmenU  in  numerou»  M,ord*  of  analogou,  meaning. 
AVhen  mature  consideration  ha.  convinced  that  the  etymology  of  thee.  word,  is  precisely  as  here 
stated,  and  that  we  do  in  this  way  attain  to  the  very  origin  even  of  such  words  a.  are  here  given, 
the  mystery  of  the  formation  of  language  is  at  once  and  forever  dispelled.    And  when  it  is  reali.ed 
that  these  »me  word,  are  on  every  hand  connectod  with  others  by  artistic  relations  dMnctly  auign. 
able,  and  that  these  relaUon.  are  everywhere  in  harmony  with  logical  relations  in  the  worid  around 
us  profound  admiration  U  felt  for  the  union  of  philosophical  propriety  and  of  artistic  elegance  } 
ph.lolog.cal  study  is  placed  in  a  new  light;  and  the  restored  art  is  seen  to  be  capable,  now,  at  in 
day,  gone  by,  of  exciting  the  deepest  interest  even  in  the  youthful  mind,  and  henoe,  of  .ubwrvin. 
I  the  highest  purposes  in  the  cause  of  education. 

Bespeotfully, 

^  H.  BUIXOFA 


e  woida,  and  diffu> 


I 


u 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 

WAITING    POR    THB    END. 

In  the  prosecution  of  these  labors  of  a  most  singular  character  In  a 
thief  of  thirty  years'  standing,   he  was  subjected  to  i'avr  of  the  dis- 
comforts  of  prison  life.    His  cell  had  a  comfortable  bed,  was  alwavs 
clean  and  supplied  with  wholesome  air,  was  contracted   in  space  cer- 
tainly, bnt  had  abundant  light,  and  contained  all  tho  articles  ol"  furni- 
ture  absolutely  essential  to  his  comfort     His  food  was  ngulated  in  a 
great  degree  by  his  own  desires,  and  all  his  whims  were  consulted 
m  the  treat  ment  he  received.     And  no  prisoner  was  ever  so  strange  in 
son.e  of  iiis  caprices  as  this  dual  man,  who,  even  in  this  last  stage  oi 
an  infamous  career,  wlien  the  whole  world  knew  how  total  was  his 
depravity,  yet  had  the  power  of  securing   the   favor  of  his  keepers. 
Most  prominent,  but  least  vexatious  to  others,  among  his  oddities,  wa^ 
his  habit  of  omitting  to  wear  any  of  his  clothing  except  his  shirr 
almost  from  the  first  hour  of  his  incurceratioi;.     The  curiosity  of  his 
jailer  was  excited   by  thw   co-.iduct,  and   inquiry  was  at   last  ma.lu 
whether  his  motive  was  a  desire  to  preserve  his  apparel  m  that  he  wouM 
present  a  dpcent  appearance  at  his  trial.     The  man  who  had  been  ad- 
dieted  to  burglary  and  murder  in  the  interest  of  philology,  was  amaztd 
at  the  littleness  of  mind  displayed  by  such  an  inquiry";  and  answered 
that  his  conduct  was  due  to  a  much   higher  motive.     He  was  accus- 
tomed,  he  said,  to  prison  life— which  was  one  of  the  few  truths  he  ever 
uttered,  for  two-fifths  of  his  entire  life  had  been  passed  in  jail— and 
knew  that  when  in  confinement  and  deprived  of  exercise,  nudity  was 
essential  to   the  preservation  of  bodily  health.     Lest   his  statement 
might  be  doubted,  he  took  the   trouble  to  call  attention  to  his  fully 
developed  as  well  as  normally  perfect  muscular  system,  and  hard  com- 
pact flesh,  as  conclusive  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  his  theory. 

The  only  trouble  this  habit  gave  his  keepers  was  the  necessity  of 
giving  him  notice  to  dress  himself  when  strangers  desired  an  inter- 
view with  him.  But  none  of  these  were  forced  upon  him,  and  he  gen- 
erally  refused  to  see  any  one  but  his  counsel.  He  furnished  the  key 
to  unlock  the  mystery  of  his  double  life  by  his  answer  to  these  re- 
quests for  interviews.  A  lady  desiring  to  visit  him  for  the  purpose  of 
administering  the  consolations  of  religion,  he  returned  a  peremptory 
refusal ;  and  many  newspaper  correspondents  wishing  details  of  his  lile 
were  excluded  from  nis  presence  with  equal  decision.  But  one  £rei,- 
tleman  had  made  a  study  of  this  prisoner  to  such  advantage  that  he 
not  ouly  obtained  an  interview^  but  forced  his  subiect  to  become  one 


haracter  In  a 
V  of  the  di.s- 
,  was  always 
in  space  ctr- 
cles  o'i  furiii- 
'gulated  in  a 
re  consulted 
so  strange  in 
iast  stage  oi 
Dtal  was  1)19 

his  keepers. 
3ddities,  wa;) 
?pt  his  shirt, 
•iosity  of  his 
t  last  madu 
iat  he  wouM 
bad  been  ad- 

was  aniazfd 
id  answered 
e  was  accus- 
•uths  heeviT 
in  jail— and 

nudity  was 
s   statement 

to  his  fnlly 
d  hard  com- 
*  theory, 
necessity  of 
ed  an  inter- 
and  he  gen- 
led  the  key 
to  these  re- 
5  purpose  of 
peremptory 
ilsof  his  life 
ut  one  gen- 
age  that  he 
become  one    " 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES.  99 

of  the  most  garrulous  of  mankind.    The  device  was  simple  when  the 
character  of  the  man  was  understood,  for  the  correspondent  had  but 
to  profess  an  interest  in  the  philological  work  and  a  desire  to  speak  on 
that  subject  alone,  to  unlock  both  the  prison  doors  and  the  tongue  of 
the  prisoner,     llulloff  freely  and  boastingly  spoke  of  his  achievements 
but  admitted  that  while  a  master  of  Latin,  Greek,  German,  French' 
and  English,  with  some  knowledge  of  Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  Italian' 
together  with  a  smattering  of  Hebrew  and  Sanscrit,  he  had  been  too 
busy  with  these  and  other  matters  to  ever  come  to  any  definite  reli- 
gious  convictions,  notwithstanding  his  parents  were  zealous  members 
of  the  Episcopalian  church,  and  had  endeavored  to  carefully  train  him 
in  that  faith.    This  anomaly  further  claimed  that,  being  a  phrenologist 
also,  he  was  so  thoroughly  acquainted  with  himself  that  he  knew  con- 
centration  was  the  leading  organ  of  his  brain,  and  constructiveness 
the  next;  for  he  averred  that  he  was  skilful  at  carpenterin<T,  black- 
Bmithmg,  cabinet-making,  weaving,  had  some  knowledge  of  law  and 
medicn.e,  and  of  the  designing  of  patterns.    In  this  last  instance  he 
was  guilty  of  the  unusual  sin  of  modesty,  for  there  are  perhaps  few 
persons,  if  any,  in  this  country,  who  have  his  originality  in  design 
and  beauty  as  well  as  facility  in  execution.     When  in  Auburn  prison 
he  was  worth  $5,000  per  year  to  the  contractor  as  a  designer  of  pat- 
terns  tor  carpets;  and  during  the  terrible  hours  of  his  Binghamton 
trial  he  amazed  his  counsel  by  his  involuntary  display  of  this  accom- 
phshment,  as  he  sat  scrawling  on  bits  of  paper  with  pen  and  ink  the 
most  qnaint  and  beautiful  designs  that  Mr.  Beales  had  ever  seen. 

Other  interviews  were  had  with  him  by  different  persons,  unon  all 

of  whom  he  made  the  impression  of  being  an  extraordinary  man,  but 

there  is  little  or  no  evidence  in  the  published  statements  concerning 

lira  that  he  impressed  any  one  with  his  sincerity.     Constantly  durin<r 

us  prison  life  since  his  condemnation,  he  has  spoken  of  his  work  oS 

language  as  a  life-long  labor,  and  it  is  therefore  proper  to  reiterate 

that  the  fact  rests  upon  his  own  unsupported  testimony,  given  at  a 

time  when  he  has  a  strong  interest  in  creating  such  a  belief.    He  gave 

no  evidence  of  such  a  purpose  to  any  one  with  whom  he  came  in  con- 

tact  prior  to  his  terra  in  Sing  Sing,  so  far  as  can  be  discovered ;  and 

when  he  came  out  of  that  prison  his  first  business  enterprise  was  to 

worn  himself  into  partnership  with  the  well-known  Colonel  D'Uta«.sy 

in  the  photograph  business,  Avhich  enterprise  continued  only  for  a  few 

weeks,  and  until  Colonel  D'Utassy  was  amazed  one  morning  to  find 

that  his  partner  and  stock  in  trade  had  disappeared  so  completely  that 

lie  was  unable  to  find  a  trace  of  either.    There  was  nothing  of  philol- 


08 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


■ 


ogy  in  this  affair,  and  as  little  was  seen  or  heard  of  it  wlion  he  was 
living  in  Delancey  Btreet  in  1866,  although  his  life  there,  even  to  its 
most  trivial  details,  has  been  thoroughly  unmasked.  It  is  therefore 
evident  that  his  philological  vagary  is  toddling  in  its  infancy,  and  hia 
attempt  to  palm  it  upon  the  world  as  in  its  old  age  is  rivalled  only  by 
one  other  of  his  many  endeavors  to  deceive  mankind. 

His  time  in  prison  was  not,  however,  wholly  given  to  lying  prone 
^  npon  his  back  with  a  small  smooth  board  upon  his  breast  for  a  desk, 
and  in  that  uncomfortable  position  writing  letters  to  newspapera  ex- 
planatory of  his  "  Method,"  or  making  additions  to  the  Method  itself, 
and  doing  it  all  in  a  chirography  of  rare  beauty.    From  this  occupa- 
tion he  spared  many  houre  for  consultation  with  his  resident  counsel, 
Mr.  Becker,  and  N.  D.  Whitney,  in  arranging  the  appeal  of  his  case  to 
the  General  Term;  and  in  these  consultations  his  overweening  confi. 
dence  in  himself  was  signally  displayed,  as  it  always  had  been,  to  his 
,  own  detriment.     When  he  first  engaged  counsel  after  his  arrest,  he 
was  vainly  desired  to  give  information  of  his  place  of  residence  in 
New  York,  in  order  that  whatever  evidence  there  might  be  against 
him  there,  might  be  removed  from  the  danger  of  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  District  Attorney ;  but  he  steadily  refused,  saying  that  there  was 
no  detective  who  could  find  his  New  York  residence,  and  he  preferred 
his  property  to  remain  as  he  had  left  it.    He  took  the  precaution,  how- 
ever, of  writing  to  his  former  housekeeper^  and,  as  has  been  shown, 
she  removed  that  manuscript  which  he  valued  at  $500,000,  and  which 
was  his  solo  anxiety.     When  too  late  he  abandoned  his  senseless 
course,  and  his  messenger  went  to  New  York  to  remove  all  his 
things  from  the  room  in  Third  Avenue  on  the  same  day  Detective 
Reilley  went  to  Binghamton  with  them.    This  confidence  was  again 
shown,  with  the  promise  of  similar  results,  as  he  insisted  on  loading 
down  the  appeal  with  averments  that  could  not  be  of  the  slightest 
use.    The  case  was  called  in  its  order,  when  the  court,  consisting  of 
Hon.  Theodore  Miller  of  Hudson,  Hon.  John  M.  Parker  of  Owego,  and 
Hon.  Piatt  Potter  of  Schenectady,  met  on  the  7th  of  February  for  the 
term  ;  but  it  then  appeared  from  the  statement?  of  Mr.  Beales  that,  not- 
withstanding the  huge  brief  of  Rulloff,  it  was  not  ready  for  hearing, 
and   at  the  request  of  Mr.  Beales  io  was  postponed  until  the  15th 
of  February,  when  it  was  argued ;  but  even  then  the  appellant  had 
allowed  his  counsel  to  do  nothing  better  than  ask  the  review  of  mat- 
ters of  fact  which  had  been  exclusively  in  the  province  of  the  jury, 
and  to  urge  exceptions  to  portions  of  Judge  Hogeboom's  charge,  as 


-"fi 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


»9 


sliowinat  a  bias  against  the  prisoiier  which  it  was  claimed  had  a  pow- 
erful effect  in  oecuring  a  verdict  against  him. 

Making  this  fteble  fight  against  fate,  prating  of  the  grandeur  of  his 
purposes,  not  deigning  to  extenuate  the  infamy  of  his  achievements, 
and  encompassed  by  a  hostile  public  sentiment  that  mnst  be  admitted 
to  have  been  as  bitter  as  its  provocation  was  great,  the  man  who  had 
lived  two  distinct  lives  for  thirty  years  waited  for  the  end.  And  it 
must  be  said  of  him,  whether  the  fact  be  to  his  credit  or  otherwise, 
that  he  waited  as  one  without  fear.  To  those  who  saw  him  daily,  and 
liad  the  best  opportunities  for  observing  him,  he  did  not  betray  the 
slightest  dread  of  his  approaching  doom.  Nor  could  it  be  seen  that 
he  was  in  the  least  degree  abashed  by  the  public  execration  which 
percolated  his  prison  v/alls  so  freely  that  he  must  have  known  how  he 
had  shocked  the  moral  sense  of  mankind.  Not  the  least  powerful  of 
the  causes  producing  the  detestation  in  which  he  was  universally  held 
was  one  of  the  latest,  as  it  was  one  of  the  most  startling  incidents  in 
his  career. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  year  1845,  when  he  seemed  pos- 
sessed by  the  Satanic  spirit  more  completely  than  at  any  other  period 
of  his  career,  he  had,  in  one  of  those  explosions  of  passion  to  which 
he  was  subject,  threatened  to  bring  the  mother  of  his  unfortunate  wife 
in  sorrow  to  the  grave.  Pie  was  in  part  as  good  as  his  word,  for  he 
brought  her  at  once  a  mysterious  woe,  such  as  few  mothers  are  ever 
called  upon  to  endure ;  but  Mrs.  Hannah  Schutt,  being  a  lady  of  rare 
fortitude,  lived  on  and  suffered.  When  twenty-five  years  had  passed 
away,  he  accomplished  his  threat  to  its  full  extent;  for  Mi-s.  Schutt, 
being  taken  into  his  presence  after  the  Binghamton  murder,  for  the 
purpose  of  identifying  him  as  Edward  H.  RuUoff,  was  so  overcome 
by  the  sight  of  the  destroyer  that  her  frail  hold  on  life  was  loosened, 
and  she  died  a  few  days  afterward.  Karely  has  performance  of  a 
promise  been  longer  postponed  or  more  literally  fulfilled  in  the  end. 
The  effect  of  this  incident  upon  the  public  mind  was  subsequently  in- 
creased when  the  story  that  his  long  missing  daughter  had  been  dis- 
covered in  Pennsylvania  was  analyzed  and  found  to  be  untrue. 

On  the  28th  day  of  February,  the  condemned  was  given  a  new 
lease  of  iiis  forfeited  life  by  Hon.  Chaa.  A.  Rapallo,  who  granted  a 
writ  of  error  and  stay  of  proceedings,  upon  a  written  stipulation  by 
the  counsel  for  the  prisoner  to  argue  the  case  on  the  15th  of  March 
before  the  Court  of  Appeals  at  Albany.    In  announcing  this  decision 


100 


THE  MAN  OF  TWO  LIVES. 


Judge  Rapallo  said  that  there  was  no  doubt  in  his  own  mind  of  the 
guilt  of  the  prisoner,  but  it  was  proper  the  highest  tribunal  in  the 
State  should  determine  whether  he  had  been  legally  convicted,  as  the 
case  was  not  only  one  of  great  celebrity  but  presented  the  novel 
points  of  whether  it  is  permissible  to  prove  identity  by  photographs, 
as  had  been  done  in  this  case  as  to  the  drowned  burglars,  and  wheth- 
er it  is  proper  for  a  Judge  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Jury  to  the  fact 
that  an  accused  person  was  not  sworn  in  his  own  behalf.  It  is  not 
doubted  that  the  judgment  in  Oyer  and  Terminer  will  be  affirmed  by 
the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  in  that  case  RuUoff  will  be  taken  in  April 
to  Eloiira  to  be  re-sentenced  by  the  Supreme  Court,  General  Term. 


A  LTBBL  npon  the  human  race,  a  startling  proof  of  the  natural 
gravitation  of  man,  when  released  from  moral  restraints,  to  total  de- 
pravity, this  man  of  great  intellect  and  no  heart  almost  justifies,  and 
certainly  perpetuates,  that  stern  Mosaic  law  which  our  civilization  in 
striving  to  abrogate.  None  of  us  can  traverse  the  decree,  "He 
that  sraiteth  a  man,  so  that  he  die,  shall  be  surely  put  to  death,"  when 
this  man  of  two  lives  lingers  in  the  Binghamton  prison,  a  smirch 
upon  the  age,  embodying  that  all  of  possible  wickedness  apostro- 
phized by  mad,  storm-beaten  Lear : 

"  Thou  perjured  and  thou  simular  man  of  virtue^ 
That,  under  covert  and  convenient  seeming, 
Hast  practised  on  man's  life,        .        .        . 
That  hast  within  thee  nndivulged  crimes 
Unwhipped  of  justice." 


Walukun  &  Pavnb,  Pkintkrsi  j;  Paak  Row,  N.  Y. 


I  mind  of  the 
bunal  in  the 
k'icted,  as  the 
ed  the  novel 
photographs, 
>,  and  wheth- 
ry  to  the  fact 
ilf.  It  is  not 
!  affirmed  by 
ken  in  April 
eral  Term. 


'  the  natural 
,  to  total  de- 
justifies,  and 
ivilization  is 
decree,  "He 
ieath,"  when 
>n,  a  smirch 
less  apostro- 


■J 


